Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
The new government has an opportunity to fix this and build a fairer, more humane system – but their first piece of immigration legislation, going through parliament right now, is a missed opportunity.
This bill misses a vital opportunity to create a fair and humane asylum system.
While this bill repeals some particularly harmful policies of the last government (for example, the Rwanda Plan) – it also introduces dangerous new provisions which risk criminalising people seeking safety.
Another problem of the bill is it’s framing: it continues a long and dangerous trend of talking about asylum as a border security issue rather than a protection issue, and of crafting law and policy accordingly. Consistently associating ‘national security’ with people seeking sanctuary stokes division and distrust, framing seeking asylum as a threat. It is not hard to see the dangers of this: less than a year ago the country was shocked by criminal violence targeting people seeking sanctuary.
We should be focussed on making it safer and easier for refugees to find protection, rather than building a fortress.
What does the bill do?
- Repeals the Rwanda Plan, and most of the Illegal Migration Act, which is very welcome
- Retains the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, which created new offences criminalising people seeking asylum based on their mode of arrival
- Retains parts of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, including:
- Expanded detention powers
- Reduced protections for victims of modern slavery
- Automatic inadmissibility for asylum and human rights claims from certain countries
- Further criminalises people seeking safety, building on the Nationality and Borders Act – particularly people forced to cross the Channel. This risks pushing people to take even more dangerous journeys
- Allows the blanket seizure of mobile phones from refugees – which was ruled illegal by the High Court in 2022, and risks depriving people of the means of keeping in touch with loved ones, support networks, and legal advisors
- Expands the use of immigration detention. Despite the well-documented harm that detention causes, the Bill introduces powers to detain someone whilst considering whether to make a deportation order
- Criminalises people simply for trying to assist refugees (and refugees for assisting each other)
Learn more
Whilst the repeal of some especially damaging recent policies is welcome, very significant amendments of the bill are needed. JRS UK have submitted written evidence to the Bill Committee outlining concerns with the bill:
Ways we could build a better and fairer asylum system
Create safe routes for refugees to come to the UK
This would reduce reliance on small boats and other dangerous modes of travel.
Restore the right to work to asylum seekers
Most people seeking asylum are not permitted to work. This consigns them to deep poverty, obliges them to be reliant on Home Office support to meet their basic needs, and makes it harder for them to take up work when they are recognised as refugees. Restoring the full right to work to people seeking safety would be good for asylum seekers’ mental health, support integration, and save public money.
End the use of immigration detention
Until this happens, introduce a 28-day time limit, ensure the decision to detain a person goes before a judge, and implement the recommendations of the Brook House Inquiry. JRS UK’s report After Brook House demonstrates the abuse and harm endemic across the UK’s detention estate, and makes recommendations for an entirely different approach.
Will you stand with us?
With your help, JRS UK will continue advocating for just policies that protect the lives and dignity of all those who are forced to flee.
Write to your MP to set out concerns around the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill and to share recommendations for building a better and fairer asylum system:
Updates
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10th February 2025 – JRS UK sets out concerns about the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
“This bill misses a vital opportunity to create a fair and humane asylum system.
Time and time again, a narrow focus on border security has put lives at risk. Any of us, if forced to flee our homes, would do whatever we could to reach safety. We should be focussed on making it safer and easier for refugees to find protection, rather than building a fortress.”
