UN refugee arm slams asylum seeker report
The United Nations refugee arm has condemned a report proposing controversial reforms to tackle the number of migrants arriving on boats in the UK.
The report, Stopping the Crossing, by centre-right think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, says “if necessary” Britain should change human rights laws and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights in order to tackle the increasing number of people crossing the Channel on small boats. A total of 44,000 people have already arrived through this route this year.
It also recommends the “indefinite detention” of all asylum seekers who enter the country illegally and the “rapid offshoring to Rwanda” for all asylum seekers who enter the country illegally.
Meanwhile, it recommends the creation of new laws which would make it impossible to claim asylum in the UK after travelling from a safe country and the creation of a statutory cap – no more than 20,000 per year – on the numbers coming to Britain through resettlement routes.
The UK Government categorises any asylum seekers who arrive in the country not on a government resettlement scheme such as the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme, as “illegal”.
UNHCR said the report, jointly written by Nick Timothy, former chief of staff to former prime minister Theresa May, contains "critical factual and legal errors" regarding the international legal status of refugees and asylum-seekers.
Vicky Tennant, UNHCR representative to the United Kingdom, said:“everybody has the right to seek asylum from persecution in another country, and there is no such thing as an ‘illegal asylumseeker’.
The indefinite detention of those seeking asylum, based solely on their mode of arrival, would punish people in need of help and protection and constitute a clear breach of the United Kingdom’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.”
She called for the strengthening and expediting of decision-making procedures and stepping up cooperation with European neighbours.
She added: “Expanding safe, regular pathways for refugees to travel to the UK would also offer real alternatives to dangerous, irregular journeys.”