The controversial Nationality and Borders Bill returned to the Commons earlier this month for further scrutiny.
Despite the bill being described by ministers in support of the legislation as “the cornerstone of the government’s New Plan for Immigration, delivering the most comprehensive reform in decades to fix the broken asylum system,” — many feel the bill is unfairly targeting UK migrants.
The bill returned to the fore because of a surge in migrant crossings in recent weeks. As many as 30,000 migrants have arrived in the country via the English Channel this year. The bill will also change how those with legitimate claims can apply for Asylum in the United Kingdom.
However, the wording used in parts of the bill has been a source of unease.
New clauses to allow the UK to be able to send asylum seekers to a “safe third country” and to submit claims at a “designated place” selected by the Secretary of State. The safe third country is not specified, and neither is the designated space. Border Force officers will also have the power to turn migrants away from the UK while at sea and would make it a criminal offense to arrive in the UK without permission knowingly.
Human rights organization Amnesty International says, if passed, the Nationality and Borders Bill “will create significant obstacles and harms to people seeking asylum in the UK’s asylum system” and that it errodes the Refugee Convention and the UK’s responsibilities under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on Reduction of Statelessness.
According to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) statistics, at the end of 2020, there were 132,349 refugees, 77,245 pending asylum cases and 4662 stateless persons in the UK. In the year ending September 2021, the UK received 37,562 asylum applications from main applicants only.
Taiwo Owatemi, the shadow equalities minister, told The Independent that allowing the Home Office to withdraw citizenship without any notification or warning, is “very alarming” for millions of dual-nationality citizens. Especially coming off the heels of the UK’s recent Windrush scandal.
In April 2018, the UK government issued an apology to Commonwealth citizens’ children for threats of deportation.
The Windrush generation was the generation of immigrants who arrived in Britain between 1948 and 1973. Despite living and working in the UK for decades, many were told they were in the country illegally because of insufficient official paperwork. More than 160 people were detained or deported.
Some fear the new bill will be Windrush all over again.
According to The Guardian, the Home Office shows no signs of walking back on its more contentious clauses.
“British citizenship is a privilege, not a right. Deprivation of citizenship on conducive grounds is rightly reserved for those who pose a threat to the UK or whose conduct involves very high harm,” a spokesperson told the news outlet. “The nationality and borders bill will amend the law so citizenship can be deprived where it is not practicable to give notice, for example, if there is no way of communicating with the person.”
