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Please contact your MP

Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill:  The Government’s new Bill is currently going through Parliament.  The Bill has been produced without a White Paper first or consultation with the refugee sector.  We’re sharing the following information and template letter from Asylum Matters’ Advocacy Update.  Please contact your MP, ASAP.

From Asylum Matters:  “The new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has now  had its first and second readings in Parliament. lt marks an escalation in the criminalisation of asylum seekers, the extension of detention powers, and the erosion of their rights. Prioritising enforcement and punishment over protection, the bill reinforces the harmful narrative that seeking safety through irregular routes is a crime and even criminalises humanitarian aid. It expands detention powers, increasing the risk of indefinite detention in centres already known for poor conditions and human rights abuses. Deportation pathways are also being strengthened, potentially leading to mass removals of asylum seekers before they have had a fair chance to present their claims. What’s included in the bill is a continuation of failed border securitisation and criminalisation policies (of the previous government) that will stop no boats, smash no gangs, but will cost more lives in the Channel.

It’s striking however to note what’s not in this so-called asylum bill, and that’s a single new policy on asylum. Nothing on accommodation, nothing on working rights, nothing on asylum support rates. As we respond to this bill as it progresses through parliament, we will be making the positive case for a compassionate refugee system. 

Further explanation of the bill can be found here, with some initial responses from sector leaders found here.”

PLEASE TAKE ACTION:  Please use and adapt the Asylum Matters template letter to MPs. Please feel free to include your personal involvement with refugees and asylum seekers. You may also wish to comment on the positive action that the Government has taken by repealing elements of earlier legislation (see below).  If you would like to include more about a just and fair approach to asylum issues, please also send your MP, this link to the Executive Summary published by the Independent Commission on the Integration of Refugees.

Ending on a positive note: In the same Asylum Matters briefing was the good news that the Bibby Stockholm barge has left Portland.  We were pleased to read that the new Bill will repeal the whole of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 thus scrapping the threat of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and parts of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 will also be repealed.