Sunak’s Crackdown on Channel Migrants Passes Commons Hurdle
(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushed through his legislation to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats, despite objections from some of his senior MPs including two former Conservative Party leaders.
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The Illegal Migration Bill was given a third and final reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday by 289 votes to 230. Before it can become law, it must face scrutiny in the House of Lords, which has the power to amend it.
The bill would put a legal duty on the UK government to detain and “promptly” deport illegal migrants, either to their home country or another country deemed safe such as Rwanda, where any asylum case would be considered. Once removed, migrants would have no rights to re-entry or UK citizenship.
Sunak has made his “stop the boats” plan one of his top five priorities ahead of a general election expected next year, judging that voters will reward the Tories at the ballot box for getting tough on illegal migration. But senior members of his party have expressed serious concerns about the policy.
Former Premier Theresa May told MPs that the bill was a “slap in the face to those of us who actually care about the victims of modern slavery and human trafficking,” and would “consign victims to remain in slavery.” Under the legislation as it stands, potential victims wouldn’t need to be in the UK to cooperate with a modern slavery investigation — a move aimed at preventing people from making bogus claims to slow down deportations.
Iain Duncan Smith, former Tory leader, also warned of “unintended consequences” for modern slavery victims. The bill was “targeting a group of people that are not the problem” and who “themselves will suffer,” he said.
Senior Tories Cast Doubt on Sunak Plan for Channel Migrants (1)
Meanwhile, former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, also a Conservative MP, questioned plans to allow ministers to ignore orders from the European Court of Human Rights. This would be a “deliberate breach of our obligations” under international law, he warned.
A report from Durham University in February said the main factor behind the steep rise in migrants crossing the Channel — from less than 300 in 2018 to over 45,000 last year — was the UK’s failure to negotiate a new returns agreement with the EU during the Brexit negotiations. Previously, that agreement had allowed the UK to more easily return illegal migrants back to another EU country.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick defended the bill, describing migrants who crossed the Channel from France as “essentially asylum shoppers” because the “vast majority” are coming from an “obvious place of safety in France with a fully functioning asylum system.”
Illegal migration puts an “unsustainable pressure on our housing, health, education and welfare services and it undermines public confidence in our democratic processes and the rule of law,” Jenrick added.
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