British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government will present a new bill on Tuesday to tackle illegal immigration, which will mainly aim to prevent those arriving in the country via the English Channel.
Despite Brexit promises to “take back control” of the border, Britain is facing a significant increase in illegal migrant arrivals. A record number of more than 45,000 people arrived in the country via the Channel last year, increasing pressure on Sunak.
The bill, expected for weeks, includes measures to make it easier to detain and deport asylum seekers who arrive in Britain illegally “as early as possible”, the Times and Daily Mail newspapers reported.
The British government intends to send them to Rwanda, under a law that has already been passed but has not been implemented due to legal challenges, or to another country deemed safe. In addition, those who arrive in the country illegally will be banned for life from returning to the UK.
According to the Times, London is also considering developing new “legal and safe” routes for asylum seekers, although it did not elaborate.
“Our measures will be simple in principle and in their implementation: the only way forward for Britain will be a safe and legal way”, British minister Suella Braverman, told The Sun yesterday Sunday of immigration.
When asked about this by Sky News yesterday, Northern Ireland Minister Chris Heaton-Harris replied that Britain intends to work with France and other European countries to ensure that asylum seekers “remain in the first safe country which they reach”.
Sunak is expected in Paris on Friday for a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Stopping the boats” of illegal immigrants is one of the five priorities set by the British prime minister for the next general election, which will be held in less than two years.
