Braverman vows to stop the boats with laws challenging European judges on migrants
SUELLA BRAVERMAN has promised to “push the boundaries of international law” to stop migrants entering the UK illegally in a direct challenge to European human rights judges.
The Home Secretary will today unveil a new law to detain migrants who arrive illegally and deport them to their home nation or a safe country such as Rwanda to claim asylum there.
Migrants will only be able to prevent their removal on asylum, human rights or modern slavery grounds in exceptional circumstances.
It can also be revealed that it will be stated in the Bill that the new laws may not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), although ministers believe they do. That is thought to be the first time an immigration bill has carried such a qualification.
Furthermore, the legislation will give the Home Secretary powers to counter European Court injunctions, such as the one which last summer blocked the first deportation flight of Channel migrants to Rwanda.
Mrs Braverman said: “We must stop the boats and that’s what our Bill will do. No more sticking plasters or shying away from the difficult decisions ... myself and the Prime Minister have been working tirelessly to ensure we have a bill that works – we’ve pushed the boundaries of international law to solve this crisis … if you come here illegally it must be that you cannot stay.”
There will also be a cap on refugee numbers, The Times reported.
Rishi Sunak last night talked to the Rwandan President Paul Kagame ahead of the announcements, in a sign of the Prime Minister’s continued commitment to the Rwanda deportation policy.
Ministers are expected to face a backlash from Labour, the House of Lords and some Tory MPS over the challenge to the ECHR. Immigration campaigners and former civil servants have already claimed the plan for a crackdown on illegal migration is “unworkable” and will be blocked in the courts.
Mrs Braverman said: “Labour and others who oppose these measures are betraying hard-working Britons up and down the country – they don’t have any answers themselves but they will still seek to block us in Parliament.
“This is about fairness and ensuring that tens of thousands of migrants each year are not jumping the queue.
“Millions more are waiting to come to
our shores – we have to stop the scourge of criminal gangs taking advantage of people and putting them in danger by coming across the Channel.”
Mr Sunak has made stopping the small boats of migrants crossing the Channel one of his five key priorities for 2023. He will join President Emmanuel Macron at a bilateral summit in Paris on Friday in an effort to secure a “substantial” increase in the allocation of officers and surveillance equipment to prevent departures from the French beaches.
Already this year, nearly 3,000 migrants have crossed the Channel illegally, double the number by the same point in 2022 and stoking fears that as many as 85,000 people could reach the UK this year if the trend continues.
A record 45,728 crossed in 2022, following 28,526 in 2021.
Today’s Bill will create a new legal “duty to remove” that will place a requirement on the Home Secretary to send back anyone who enters the country illegally. It will heavily curtail the ability of illegal arrivals to claim asylum, use modern slavery or human rights claims to block removal. That will only be permitted in limited circumstances such as for unaccompanied children or those with grave medical ailments.
“This new duty to remove will ensure that the Home Secretary’s power to remove migrants takes precedence in law and ensures asylum, human rights and modern slavery claims are blocked,” said a government source.
The Bill will carry a statement which says that although it may not comply with the ECHR, ministers intend to pro- ceed with it on the basis that they believe it to be compliant.
The Prime Minister’s allies have made clear he is prepared to go further than any other previous Government in pushing the boundaries of what is possible within the UK’S international obligations without breaching them.
However, if the legislative package is blocked by Strasbourg, it is understood that Mr Sunak is prepared to consider leaving the ECHR.
It is understood the new Bill will give the Home Secretary powers to counter ECHR injunctions such as the one that blocked the first deportation flight of Channel migrants to Rwanda. Ministers have maintained that the injunction, known as rule 39, is not grounded in the ECHR but is part of the court’s “internal rules”, meaning it is not binding on UK courts and can be disregarded by them.
Sources indicated the power to counter injunctions would only be used by the Home Secretary “in extremis.”
The late-night injunction by a single Strasbourg judge last June barred deportation to Rwanda until all UK courts had ruled on the legality of the policy. Although the Home Office won in the High Court this was appealed and the legal process is unlikely to be completed until later this year.
Under the new Bill, migrants arriving illegally will have their asylum claims declared inadmissible and will be detained for at least 28 days before they can even request bail.
Migrants’ cases will be fast-tracked so they can be processed for removal while detained.
Illegal arrivals will be subject to “non-suspensive” deportation orders which mean any human rights or other claims will only be heard once they have been deported, other than in exceptional circumstances.
It is understood the Home Secretary will also be given powers to limit the ability of migrants to judicially review removal decisions under her new duty.
It is thought the Government may adopt proposals by the think tank Policy Exchange which recommended judicial reviews should be limited to considerations such as whether a migrant arrived via the Channel or was fit enough to go on a deportation flight. Once migrants are removed, they will have no right to return to the UK ever again.