As of 2021, when adjusted for population, the UK ranked sixteenth in Europe for the number of asylum applications received, lower than both France and Germany, and lower than the European average. Interestingly, Germany also features fourth in the top 5 countries who host the most refugees worldwide: Turkey, Iran, Columbia and Pakistan are first, second, third and fifth respectively. The statistics simply don’t support that assertion. The argument is that the UK is taking more refugees than it can afford, and that there is no good reason why refugees coming here should not stay in other counties which, inevitably, given the UK’s geographic position, they pass through enroute. The Act’s basic policy is premised upon the notion that the UK is already doing more than its fair share. In April, the UNHCR published data outlining that the number of new displacements caused by climate change-related disasters since 2010 has risen to 21.5 million. The global climate crisis has resulted in an increasing number of people fleeing from extreme weather events such as floods, earthquakes, and droughts. The UNHCR announced on that the number of people forced to flee due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and events seriously disturbing public order had reached more than 100 million for the first time on record. More asylum seekers are fleeing from war and persecution than ever before. The government need to accept a clear and ever-present reality displacement and relocation are on the rise. It is an idea of home and belonging that is divisive, differentiating us from them. This idea is rooted in stasis, the policy is one of isolationism that there is an exclusive identity that belongs only to a defined and bounded group of people. But there is a sense in which this concept of ‘home’ denies that humans were ever nomadic. Any large number of people entering outside official routes is a policy failure. The case in support of the Act is not difficult to comprehend the UK is ‘our home’, we are taking back control and we should decide for ourselves who enters our borders.
It spells the end of the asylum process as we know it – the UK is pulling up its drawbridges. The Act directly targets those who are the most vulnerable and desperate for protection an egregious violation of both our moral and legal duties to protect refugees. In particular, those who are risking life and limb, clambering into ‘small boats’, pregnant with aspirations and hope of refuge, attempting to cross the English Channel.
Though technically the Act applies to any person who enters the UK without permission, the clear focus of attention has been on asylum seekers. Whilst the detail of the Act’s provisions are complex, its message is simple: those entering without permission are not welcome in our home, and will not be allowed to remain. On 20 July 2023, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (“IMA”) received Royal Assent and so passed into law.
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