UK Government slammed for plans to 'stop the boats'

New legislation could come in as soon as Tuesday as Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the only way into the UK would be a “safe and legal route”.

The plans are expected to make asylum claims inadmissible from those who travel to the UK on small boats. 

It would see a duty placed on the Home Secretary to remove “as soon as reasonably practicable” anyone who arrives on a small boat to Rwanda or a “safe third country”.

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Arrivals will also be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, with plans to also ban them from returning once removed

The SNP described the UK Government’s approach to asylum seekers as “inhumane and cruel”.

The party’s immigration spokesperson Stuart McDonald said: “Suella Braverman’s proposals will trash the Refugee Convention and Human Right’s Convention, as well as the Modern Slavery Act’s protections for victims of trafficking.

“The UK Government must realise their plans will achieve nothing except pain and misery to families fleeing war-torn countries, or places where they face persecution. 

“It is vital that Scotland secures its independence so that we can have a humane asylum system in Scotland – one that offers refugees protection, security and dignity from the moment they arrive here.”

Rishi Sunak said the new powers mark a step towards fulfilling his pledge to “stop the boats once and for all”.

He told The Mail On Sunday: “Illegal migration is not fair on British taxpayers; it is not fair on those who come here legally and it is not right that criminal gangs should be allowed to continue their immoral trade.

“I am determined to deliver on my promise to stop the boats. So make no mistake, if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.”

Christina Marriott, the executive director of strategy at Red Cross, called the plans “extremely concerning”. 

“The Home Office knows from its own research that this will also do little to prevent people risking their lives to seek safety. 

“Again and again, we hear from people that they have no prior knowledge of the UK’s asylum system, so making it harsher is not an effective strategy. 

The Prime Minister has made “stopping the boats” one of his five key pledges while Braverman has repeatedly promised to take a hard line on illegal migration – she previously said it would be her “dream” to see a plane take asylum seekers to Rwanda. 

According to The Sun On Sunday, the new bill will be published on Tuesday. The Home Secretary told the paper: “Enough is enough. The British people want this solved. They are sick of tough talk and inadequate action. We must stop the boats. 

“That’s why myself and the Prime Minister have been working flat out to bring forward necessary and effective laws which will tackle this problem, once and for all. 

“It has to be that if you come here illegally you will be detained and swiftly removed. Our laws will be simple in their intention and practice – the only route to the UK will be a safe and legal route.”

The UK Government’s plans have also been slammed by Freedom From Torture, who called the proposals “vindicative and dysfunctional”.

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Its chief executive Sonya Sceats said: “This legislation will do nothing to reduce the number of deaths in the Channel or the chaos and incompetence that blights our asylum system, nor will it guarantee sanctuary for those who need it.

“Instead, it will lead to more torture survivors being unfairly denied protection and potentially removed to Rwanda.”

Concerns have also been raised with whether some of the policies are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. 

Elsewhere, the Scottish Greens said that both Labour and Tory governments have seen asylum seekers as “easy targets for cynical, racist attacks”.

Maggie Chapman MSP said: “Asylum is one of the most fundamental human rights we have, exercised by the most vulnerable and at risk people on Earth. These are people escaping war, torture and persecution. The horrors many of them have been through are incomprehensible.

“Yet for decades Labour and Tory governments have seen them as easy targets for cynical, racist attacks. Whether it’s attacking their standard of living, closing off safe routes to the UK, or trying to send them to other countries with appalling human rights records.

"The point here is not to help people, or to fix a broken asylum system. The point is cruelty.

“Future generations will look at this treatment with horror and disgust, and wonder how they were able to get away with it for so long. It must stop. Safe avenues to asylum must be reopened, and asylum seekers who are here must be treated fairly and with the dignity they deserve.”

The latest Home Office figures show that 2950 migrants have crossed the Channel this year.