Lords to speak out on ‘cruel, inhumane Bill’

IMAGINE you are an Afghan who, despite having worked with the British, has not made it on to the limited resettlement programmes and is now one of the many risking their lives in a small boat in desperation to escape the Taliban.

On arrival you are declared illegal, detained, then deported and banned from entering the country again – without chance to make your case for asylum.

This is the intention of the so-called Illegal Migration Bill.

On the basis of Home Office data, it is estimated the majority of those arriving on small boats would qualify for refugee status were their claim determined.

Yet the Bill treats them all, even children, as “illegal migrants”.

The Children’s Commissioner and children’s organisations have expressed deep concern about what the Bill means for children’s rights and experiences.

For those fleeing persecution and conflict, boats can appear the only way of entering the UK in the absence of safe and legal routes.

According to the UNHCR, the

Bill represents “a clear breach of the Refugee Convention” because it amounts to “an asylum ban”.

Moreover, the Home Secretary is unable to confirm that it is compatible with human rights law.

This will be a red flag to peers who inflicted many defeats on the Government during the passage of the Nationality and Borders Bill.

Once again we are likely to challenge the Government on its obligations and its treatment of children and seek assurances on proposals for resettlement through safe and legal routes.

And despite the Home Sec’s claim the Bill is compassionate and humanitarian, I predict many of us will reject it as cruel and inhumane.