UK: Passing of migration bill is 'bleak day for human rights'

Government’s highly controversial Illegal Migration Bill will make final passage through Commons today

New law will create significant obstacles, penalties and harms to people seeking asylum in UK

‘Ministers are using vulnerable and traumatised people for political ends’ - Sacha Deshmukh

With the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill’s set to make its final passage through the House of Commons today, Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said:

“Today is an extremely bleak day for human rights in this country.

“The Bibby Stockholm’s arrival at Portland comes on the same day as the new immigration law is set to shatter respect for the rights of refugees and victims of human trafficking in the UK’s asylum system.

“Disqualifying people’s asylum claims en masse regardless of the strength of their case is a blatant assault on international law and is a failure of UK leadership.

“Ministers are using vulnerable and traumatised people for political ends - feeding the public misinformation about asylum issues, stoking resentment and division, and then pushing through ever more extreme measures to perpetuate the same policies that keep doing so much harm.

“We need a total rethink on asylum. The use of barges, former military sites and other completely unsuitable places of accommodation should end, this terrible new law and the Rwanda deal should be scrapped, and there should be a renewed focus on properly-resourced decision-making and the creation of safe and legal asylum routes.”