The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has stated that the draft migrant legislation proposed by the United Kingdom Government will result in a de facto “asylum ban”.Information Guide Nigeria
In a statement, UNHCR said the new bill, if adopted would deny the right to seek refugee protection to people arriving irregularly in the UK.
This includes those who risk their lives to cross the English Channel in small boats.
According to VANGUARD, they would face detention and deportation, without having their individual circumstances examined.
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UNHCR said, “This would be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention and would undermine a longstanding, humanitarian tradition of which the British people are rightly proud.”NYSC Portal
VANGUARD reports that UK is one of the original signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which recognises that refugees may have to enter a country of asylum irregularly.
UK Government reveals that in 2022, some 45,000 people crossed the Channel on small boats, up 60 per cent from the previous year.
The UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs, in a tweet said that she was “profoundly concerned” by the UK bill introduced in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
In addition, UNHCR stated that the UK is not part of any agreement that would allow authorities to share responsibility for refugees.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in June 2022, dismissed the UK-Rwanda deal as “all wrong”.
According to UNHCR, it would continue to support the UK in strengthening its asylum system.
UNHCR urged the Government and legislators to reconsider the bill and “pursue more humane and practical policy solutions”.JAMB Result
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