New UK asylum law violates international law, says UNHCR

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, opposes a British bill aimed at discouraging people from coming to the UK.

According to the UNHCR, if the proposal is passed, a dichotomy will emerge between a relatively small group of asylum seekers who came to the UK with permission from the UK government and a much larger group who came on their own. Such a dichotomy has no basis in international law, says UNHCR Representative in the United Kingdom, Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor.

Temporary residence permit

Last year 8,500 migrants arrived in England in boats from France. This year, they are already more than 12,000. Home Secretary Patel is under heavy pressure from her Conservative Party to do something about it.

As a first step, she wants to deport asylum seekers who have come to the UK without government authorization to the country to which they first fled. If that doesn’t work, according to his bill, they will be given a temporary residence permit which can be withdrawn at any time.

They will live in insecurity and poverty for years to come and have no right to family reunification, Pagliuchi-Lor says. “This will harm their health and hinder their integration. The financial, individual and social cost is high.”

Moreover, according to Pagliuchi-Lor, there is no evidence that this law will deter asylum seekers. The British Parliament has yet to vote on the proposal.