The controversial asylum reform of Boris Johnson's government is about to enter British law, after crossing a final hurdle in Parliament on Wednesday April 27.
After the rejection on Wednesday of an amendment in the House of Lords, the upper house of the British Parliament, the text will soon enter into law, when it has received the assent of Queen Elizabeth II.
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The reform provides in particular for tougher sanctions against smugglers and migrants who knowingly arrived in the country illegally, as well as the outsourcing to third countries of the examination of asylum applications.
The Conservative government announced two weeks ago an agreement with Kigali to send asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to Rwanda.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised to control immigration, a key issue in the Brexit campaign, but the number of illegal Channel crossings tripled in 2021, a year marked by the death of 27 migrants in a shipwreck at the end of November .
Faced with criticism, the government invokes the need to dissuade candidates for these dangerous crossings and to break the lucrative traffic of smugglers.
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The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees regretted the approval of the British text which
“undermines established international laws and practices in the protection of refugees”
.
In a statement, High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said he was
"concerned by the United Kingdom's intention to outsource its obligations to protect refugees and asylum seekers to other countries"
, stressing that such a move goes against
“the letter and the spirit and the refugee convention”
.
The NGO Oxfam, through the voice of one of its leaders, Sam Nadel, denounced in the approval of this
"hateful"
text a
"devastating blow for families fleeing conflict and persecution"
.
“The government should protect, not punish, refugees
,” he continued, denouncing in
“the immoral plans to outsource our responsibilities in terms of asylum in Rwanda”
.
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“The horrific conflict in Ukraine has generated immense public support”
for refugees, he continued, and
“a reminder of the importance of a fair asylum system and the need for more safe and secure pathways. legal”
.
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