The UK's Illegal Migration Bill: human rights violated.

Arnell, Paul; Lewis, Olayinka; Kalocsányiová, Erika; Forrester, Andrew

Abstract

Stopping asylum seekers from arriving in the UK on small boats was one of the five key pledges made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January 2023.1 An important facet of the attempt to meet that promise is the Illegal Migration Bill. Introduced in March 2023, it is proving to be highly controversial. The Bill, which seeks to 'prevent and deter unlawful migration', has been described as 'one of the worst bills pursued by a British government in recent history'. The Government, in contrast, describes the policy underlying it as 'profoundly and at its heart a humane attempt to break the incentive that sustains the business model of the smuggling gangs'. What is beyond controversy is that the Bill is an unprecedented attack on the UK's system of human rights protection, as well as an affront to international human rights and refugee law. The title of the Bill refers to 'illegal migration'. However, this title is in itself inaccurate. Under international law countries where putative refugees arrive are under a duty to determine – that is, declare or otherwise – refugee status. This is implicit in the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Status of Refugees 1951. 'Arriving' cannot therefore be unlawful. In the House of Lords debate on the Bill Baroness Chakrabarti said 'a refugee convention refugee can never – I repeat, never – be illegal'. Further, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights inter alia provides that 'everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution'.

Citation

ARNELL, P., LEWIS, O., KALOCSÁNYIOVÁ, E. and FORRESTER, A. 2023. The UK's Illegal Migration Bill: human rights violated. Medicine, science and law [online], 63(4), pages 267-269. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024231186736

• Journal Article Type: Editorial
• Acceptance Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Publication Date: Oct 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Aug 7, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 7, 2023
• Journal: Medicine, science and the law
• Print ISSN: 0025-8024
• Electronic ISSN: 2042-1818
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 63
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 267-269
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00258024231186736
• Keywords: Illegal migration; UK government; Human rights; International law
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2034821