Small boats: Sunak to outline plan to stop migrant crossings

A new law set to go before Parliament on Tuesday will introduce tough new measures aimed at deterring migrants entering the UK on small boats.

It is expected the Illegal Migration Bill will put a duty on the home secretary to detain and deport anyone who enters the country illegally.

It will also prevent those arriving illegally from claiming asylum or returning to the UK in future.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has described the plans as "unworkable".

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the bill would push "the boundaries of international law" without breaking it, telling the Express this was needed to "solve this crisis".

Writing in the Sun, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the plans were "fair for those at home and those who have a legitimate claim to asylum".

More than 45,000 people entered the UK via Channel crossings last year, up from around 300 in 2018, leading to pressure on the government to tackle the issue.

Under the new plans, the home secretary's "duty to remove" would take precedence in law over someone's right to claim asylum - although there would be exemptions for the under-18s and those with serious medical conditions.

Anyone removed would also not be permitted to return to the UK or seek British citizenship in future.

While the bill will not become law for several months it will apply retrospectively, meaning anyone arriving in the UK illegally from Tuesday will be at risk of deportation under the laws.

The new laws are expected to strain the UK's commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN's Refugee Convention - which currently give rights to asylum seekers arriving in the UK.

A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster, where as a migrant refers more broadly to anyone who moves from one place to another.

Under the new law, the home secretary would have a duty to remove all those arriving illegally to Rwanda or a "safe" third country "as soon as reasonably practicable" - no matter where they had come from.

The government already has a policy in place aimed at deporting some asylum seekers to Rwanda - but so far no one has been sent there and any plans to do so are currently being held up by legal challenges.

Mr Sunak spoke to Rwanda's President Paul Kagame ahead of Tuesday's announcement, and said they would continue to work towards making sure the new proposals go ahead.

'Enough is enough'

In an opinion piece for the Sun, Mr Sunak said the UK had a "proud history of welcoming those most in need" and the new measures were "fair for those at home and those who have a legitimate claim to asylum".

"Those arriving on small boats aren't directly fleeing a war-torn country or facing an imminent threat to life," he said.

"Instead, they have travelled through safe, European countries before crossing the Channel. The fact that they can do so is unfair on those who come here legally and enough is enough."

He added the plans would "send a clear signal that if you come to this country illegally, you will be swiftly removed" - and this would "help break the business model of people smugglers".

Ms Braverman said she and the prime minister had been "working tirelessly" to make sure the bill works.

"This is about fairness and ensuring that tens of thousands of migrants each year are not jumping the queue," she said.

The prime minister will meet France's President Emmanuel Macron on Friday to discuss further cooperation that will be required to reduce boat crossings.

Mr Sunak admitted voters "have heard promises before" without seeing results, but insisted his legislation "will mean that those who come here on small boats can't claim asylum here".

The plans have met with criticism from opposition figures and refugee groups, with Labour saying the new legislation rehashes previous plans that have not worked.

A new offence of arriving in the UK illegally was introduced in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 by the then Home Secretary Priti Patel, but has barely been used.

Ministers expect this bill to cause a row.

It is perhaps the first row they have consciously picked since Rishi Sunak became prime minister, rather than walked into by accident.

It is, remember, one of the PM's five key promises. Three relate to the economy, one to the NHS and the final one is to "stop the boats".

Quite the challenge.

It is the "last chance for the Conservatives to sort this," one insider acknowledges - and Tory MPs say it really matters to plenty of the voters they want to keep onside.

Speaking to LBC radio, the Labour leader said the issue of Channel crossings "has got to be dealt with" but "the only way to deal with it is to break the criminal gangs who are driving this".

Sir Keir Starmer said the National Crime Agency should be given the resources to set up a specialist unit to tackle the issue and that more should be done to speed up processing existing asylum applications.

Asked if the plan was legally feasible, Sir Keir - who is a former director of public prosecutions - said: "I don't know that it is and I think we've got to be very careful with international law here."

Numerous critics have also argued that, aside from schemes for people from specific countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, there are currently no safe and legal routes for most people to seek asylum in the UK.

The Liberal Democrats said the new law was "immoral, ineffective and incredibly costly for taxpayers while doing nothing to stop small boat crossings".

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said it would "shatter the UK's long-standing commitment under the UN Convention to give people a fair hearing regardless of the path they have taken to reach our shores".

Freedom from Torture, a charity which provides therapy to asylum seekers, described the measures as "vindictive and dysfunctional".