London, Thanasis Gavos

The Illegal Immigration Bill which he submitted today to the House of Commons British government is “strict”, but at the same time “necessary and fair”, said Rishi Sunak at a press conference.

The bill provides that any migrant or refugee arriving on British soil through an irregular route, that is mainly by boat from the English Channel, will be quickly deported to their country or to a safe third country such as Rwanda, with which Britain has concluded a relevant agreement, which is however being examined by the British courts.

“The current situation is neither ethical nor sustainable. It cannot continue. It is unfair to the British people who have opened their homes to genuine refugees but are now being forced to spend almost £6m a day hosting illegal immigrants in hotels,” said Mr Sunack.

The bill provides that people arriving across the Channel will be allowed to be detained without bail or a court hearing for the first 28 days, that Home Secretary Suella Braverman will be responsible for deporting them as soon as possible and that their application to stay in Britain will is considered after they have been removed from the country, unless they are minors, with a serious health problem or in real danger in case of deportation to their country.

Modern slavery laws will also not be allowed to be invoked to block deportation proceedings, and those so deported will be banned from settling in and re-entering the UK, as well as acquiring British citizenship, for life.

Also, it is predicted that a numerical annual limit will be established by the parliament for those refugees entering the United Kingdom through legal channels.

“They will not stop coming here until people know that if you enter Britain illegally, you will be detained and removed quickly back to your country, if it is safe, or to a safe third country such as Rwanda (with which Britain has entered into a relevant agreement)”, Ms. Braverman said earlier in Parliament, presenting the bill.

Although Ms Braverman and Mr Sunak said the new legislation was in line with international law and the UK’s international obligations, an accompanying letter to MPs from the relevant ministers of state admitted there was more than a 50% chance the European Convention would be breached on Human Rights, which portends a clash with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

And the United Nations Office for Refugees expressed “deep concern” about the British government’s bill, considering that it essentially constitutes a ban on the right to submit an asylum application.

Nevertheless, the process of approving the bill will begin in the British Parliament on March 16.

Human rights groups and the opposition have questioned the legality of the bill and argued that it does not deal with criminal traffickers, but rather inhumanely “demonizes” asylum seekers.

The opposition also questions the enforceability of the provisions, as there are insufficient facilities to hold migrants and refugees.

There are currently 160,000 pending asylum applications in Britain. Since the beginning of the year around 3,000 people have crossed the English Channel to Britain, while in total in 2022 this number reached 45,756, an increase of 60% compared to 2021.

The top nationality of irregular migrants arriving in Britain in 2022 was Albanian, followed in order by Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians.

Ending the Channel crossing of migrants and refugees on smugglers’ boats is one of five priorities for his government announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.