Amnesty UK letter to Minister on commencement of Nationality and Borders Act 2022

On 28 June 2022, the Government intends to bring into effect various provisions of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. These include provisions to fundamentally break with the Refugee Convention by unilaterally redefining that Convention and the obligations owed by the UK to refugees under it. 

The Government has said these changes will only apply to asylum claims made on or after 28 June 2022. However, the Home Office currently requires many people to book appointments to make their asylum claims. The Government, therefore, needs to make regulations under the Act so that claims, which are made on or after 28 June 2022 solely because the person seeking asylum was prevented by the appointment system from making the claim earlier, are not caught by these changes.

Amnesty UK's letter to the Minister briefly sets out our principled objection to the changes; and reminds the Government of the need to make these regulations to give effect to its intention not to apply the changes to people who would make their claims prior to 28 June 2022 but for the Home Office appointment system.