UK: Council of Europe calls on UK lawmakers to block proposed immigration law

The human rights chief of the Council of Europe has called on British lawmakers to block the legislation that tackled immigration in the United Kingdom. The legislation was cited as creating “clear and direct tension” with fundamental standards.

The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner Dunja Mijatovic called on British lawmakers to stop the bill that tackled the long-running issue of immigration in the UK. Mijatovic said the Illegal Migration Bill would strip the essential part of the protection system by preventing people that arrive in the UK on small boats seeking asylum from having their claims heard.

“It is essential that parliamentarians prevent legislation that is incompatible with the United Kingdom’s international obligations being passed,” said Mijatovic in a letter to both houses of the British parliament ahead of the chamber’s debate on the bill this week. “Passing the bill would add to the already significant regression in the protection of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in the UK in the last few years.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sought to prioritize the long-running issue of illegal migration in the country after record numbers of migrants crossed the English Channel and arrived in the UK on small boats. Sunak has hoped the effort would win voters ahead of next year’s election. Sunak’s government said the legislation is needed to limit the arrival of migrants on small boats, mostly coming from France and combat human trafficking.

However, some lawmakers in the governing Conservative Party want the bill to go further to the extent that the lawmakers are calling on the government to withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights. However, other Conservative lawmakers and lawmakers from the opposition want the government to provide more “safe” routes, which Sunak has pledged to do, but only after the number of arrivals has fallen.

A report by Sky News on Saturday said the British government plans to house migrants in military bases and even disused ferries instead of hotels, with the announcement expected to be made in the coming weeks. The report added that the previous suggestions of housing migrants in holiday camps and student halls are unlikely to be implemented.