LONDON: A blanket ban on asylum seekers from countries designated by the UK as being “safe” places to live is proposed by British Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Under plans to tackle what the UK government describes as a “migrant crisis,” she is said to be drawing up legislation that will make it easier to automatically reject and expel asylum seekers from such countries whether or not their claims are “unfounded.”
Experts said the move is designed primarily to target Albanian migrants. More than 12,000 have arrived in the UK on small boats this year, representing about a quarter of all such Channel crossings, The Times reported.
Under the new legislation, the report added, countries would be designated as “safe” based on the rules that already apply to an existing Home Office “white list.” This list needs to be updated given that it currently includes Ukraine, and Braverman would have the power to add or remove other countries, the newspaper said.
The “white list” is seen by observers as a mechanism to allow the British government to target Albanian migrants while avoiding falling foul of any laws by singling out a single nationality.
UK authorities are also expected to use a second “partial designation” list that declares certain countries to be “safe” for men but not for women and children, such as Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali and Sierra Leone.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has condemned the proposals, warning that they would breach the UK’s international obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
“Everybody has the right to seek asylum from persecution in another country and there is no such thing as an ‘illegal asylum seeker,’” said UNHCR’s representative to the UK, Vicky Tennant.
“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.”
A Home Office source told The Times: “This list dates back to 2002, when it was introduced by (a) Labour (government). Despite being on this list, the UK still continues to accept people claiming asylum from these countries based on their individual cases.”
