Channel migrants face lifetime ban on returning to UK
Channel migrants will be banned from re-entering the UK
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New measures will ban channel migrants from future re-entry to the UK as Rishi Sunak clamps down on “stopping the boats”.
The proposed legislation will mean anyone arriving on UK shores on a small boat will be removed to Rwanda or a “safe” third country "as soon as reasonably practicable" and ban them from returning permanently.
Currently, under the UN's Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights asylum seekers in the UK have the right to seek protection.
A new clause in the Illegal Migration Bill is expected to apply a "rights brake" to effectively allow the conventions to be avoided.
The Government have brought in new legislation to tackle the rise in channel migrants
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The move comes as the Government tackles the rise in numbers of asylum seekers making the dangerous crossing from France to the UK.
Despite a deal being reached last year, no migrants have been sent to Rwanda yet and any plans to do so are currently on hold.
However, the Refugee Council has criticised the plans and say thousands will be left “permanently in limbo” as a result.
But, in December the High Court ruled the scheme did not breach the UN's Refugee Convention.
The decision is still facing further challenges in the courts, with a preliminary hearing expected on Monday at the Court of Appeal.
The Refugee Council has accused ministers of breaking the UK's long-standing commitment under the UN Convention to give people a fair hearing regardless of how they get to the UK.
The group's CEO Enver Solomon said the "flawed" legislation would not stop the boats but could see tens of thousands of people locked up in detention at huge cost.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said "the only route to the UK will be a safe and legal route".
Home Secretary Suella Braverman will will implementing new legislation
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However, some routes are only available for people from specific countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, or for British National status holders in Hong Kong.
Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting claimed the government's upcoming measures were "just the latest in a long line for unworkable gimmicks".
"We've put forward our own proposals - taking the hundreds of millions of pounds that would be wasted on the Rwanda scheme, put it into the National Crime Agency so that we can start rounding up and arresting the criminal gangs that are trafficking people," he told BBC One's Breakfast.
In 2022, 45,756 migrants crossed the English Channel to Britain in small boats, according to Government figures.