The Council of Europe has issued a warning to British lawmakers not to support the government’s Illegal Migration Bill, stating that it could lead to other countries "evading and
abdicating" their own human rights obligations. The council, which counts Britain among its founding members and is tasked with monitoring and upholding human rights across the continent, said in a letter addressed to members of the Commons and the House of Lords that access to asylum is a crucial part of human rights protection in Europe. The council also emphasized the need for asylum claims to be heard "regardless" of how the individual arrived in the country.
The Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, wrote that the bill "would strip away one of the essential building blocks of the protection system" by "effectively preventing people arriving irregularly from having their asylum claims assessed". The bill, Mijatović added, directly conflicts with established human rights standards.
The UK government has said that the bill is necessary to reduce the numbers of people using small boats to make the dangerous crossing from France to British shores. The proposals would limit the avenues by which asylum seekers can challenge their removal and place a legal obligation on the home secretary to “remove illegal entrants”. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping boat crossings one of his top five political priorities.
However, Mijatović warned that the UK's proposed bill would set a negative precedent that other European countries could follow, potentially leading to other nations evading their human rights obligations to protect asylum seekers. Mijatović's letter is the latest international condemnation of the bill, which has already faced criticism from the United Nations’ refugee agency and the European Union.
The bill is set to face further scrutiny in the House of Commons as it moves to the committee stage. Conservative MPs from both wings are pressing for changes, with some urging the government to ensure the European Court of Human Rights cannot challenge the removal of asylum seekers, while others are demanding more safe and legal routes for those fleeing persecution. Photo by Council of Europe, Wikimedia commons.