In his King's Speech on Wednesday, King Charles set out Prime Minister Kier Starmer's legislative programme. With Starmer's lofty ambitions to "fix the foundations" of the country, what are his plans to fix the asylum system in the UK?
A new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
The King's Speech gave notice of a new "Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill". It is envisioned that the Bill will:
- Give the new Border Security Command and wider law enforcement the tools and powers they need to crack down on criminal gangs;
- Provide a strong deterrent and penalty for criminals involved in organised immigration crime;
- Fix the asylum system to make it more efficient by clearing the asylum backlog, ensuring fast-track returns for individuals coming from safe countries, and ending the Rwanda Scheme.
The Labour government's scrapping of the Rwanda scheme is welcome. The scheme was cruel, unworkable and came at enormous expense to the taxpayer. The scheme has also resulted in thousands of asylum seekers being left in limbo while their claims have not been processed.
Clearly it is important that people seeking refuge are not open to exploitation by criminals. However, it is concerning that the Labour government is repeating the previous Conservative government's rhetoric on deterrence when there is no evidence to support such assertions. There appears to be no plan to open safe routes for those in need. What's more, the prime minister has hinted that he is open to processing asylum seekers offshore, an idea that has drawn criticism from charities including Care4Calais and Freedom from Torture.
It will take time for details of the new Bill to be fleshed out but at first glance, it appears that the Labour government may be following the same path as their predecessors. The UK must not derogate from its domestic and international legal obligations towards asylum seekers by outsourcing those obligations to third countries. Instead, the Labour government must shift its focus and aim to introduce new safe and legal routes to the UK for asylum seekers.
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