It is hard to believe but on the 6 December the UK Government’s proposed Nationality and Borders Bill passed in its third and final reading in the House of Commons, with 298 MPs voting for the Bill and 231 voting against it. The Bill will now go to the House of Lords, where it will be debated on 5 January 2022.
The National Justice Project are deeply concerned that the Bill emulates the worst aspects of Australia’s refugee policy and could see refugees facing years of detention with no solution in sight.
When we saw the proposed UK Bill, we knew we needed to make a submission that could influence UK politicians to reconsider their support for some of these proposed legislative changes.
Read more about the Submission and access the Submission here.
The bill gives the green light to the UK to pursue an Australian style offshore processing system, as well as emulating Australia’s policy of pushing boats back at sea. These changes will permit a cruel form of offshore processing, which puts the lives of refugee and asylum seeker men, women and children at risk.
The Bill will likely put the UK in breach of its international obligations and expose asylum seekers and refugees to foreseeable and avoidable harm.
National Justice Project CEO and Principal Solicitor, George Newhouse comments:
“It is our view that the UK Government is going to implement the cruellest of Australian deterrence policies. These policies have led to massive costs to the taxpayers and years of protracted litigation against the Australian Government. If the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill is passed in the UK, it has the potential to give rise to significant costs and liability for the UK Government, and it will be devastating for those people caught in this system.
National Justice Project Special Counsel, Daniel Ghezelbash adds:
“The adoption of Australia’s approach of pushing back asylum seekers at sea is particularly concerning. Not only does this policy violate international law, but it puts the lives of asylum seekers at risk. The Bill will set a terrible example globally, with other countries likely to adopt similar measures, undermining the global refugee system. I fear if the UK goes down the same path as Australia it could be inflicting a mortal wound on the universal principle of asylum.”