UK interior minister says plan to expel most migrants claiming asylum is legal

British interior minister Suella Braverman defended the government’s plan to expel most migrants claiming asylum in the United Kingdom. Braverman maintained that the proposal was lawful despite the warnings that such a proposal would violate international laws and be challenged in court.

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Braverman said the government’s proposal to turn away most of the migrants who are claiming asylum in the UK was legal despite the warnings that such a policy could be challenged in court and breach international laws on human rights.

Braverman even wrote on the first page of the draft proposal to address migrants claiming asylum in the UK that the legislation may breach the government’s existing Human Rights Act but said that she concluded the statement “out of an abundance of caution.”

“We are confident that we are complying with the law, domestic and international,” said Braverman. “But we are also pushing the boundaries and we are testing innovative and novel legal arguments.”

The new legislation is the latest in policies introduced by the Conservative government under its prime ministers that aimed to address the long-running issue of migration. Record numbers of migrants arrived in the UK on small boats in 2022, and the government last year also announced a plan to deport migrants to Rwanda.

Lawyers and charities have said the proposal would violate the United Nations convention on refugees, which was introduced after many countries denied entry to Jewish refugees during World War II. The new legislation would see asylum seekers who arrive in the UK detained without bail before they are deported back to their home country or to a third country they deem to be safe.

The new law would also make those asylum seekers ineligible to challenge their deportation, and once they are deported, they will be banned from returning.

The issue of migration is one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s top five priorities. During an interview with the Daily Mail published on Sunday, Sunak made it clear that migrants who enter the UK illegally will not be allowed to stay.

Braverman also told The Sun that the only route to enter the United Kingdom is the safe and legal route.