TonHis Minister of the Interior, Pritty Patel, Has repeatedly pledged to curb the number of people arriving on the coast of England in small boats By making this route “infeasible” But more than 27,000 refugees have crossed the strait in this way, up from 8,500 in 2020.
The Ministry of the Interior is now Plans to introduce labelling schemes for asylum seekers According to reports, after “infuriating” Boris Johnson Order reviewThis is the latest proposal in a series of ideas aimed at curbing the arrival of small boats, which have so far failed to curb numbers.
“Turn over” tactics
In the fall, Patel is preparing to push the boat carrying immigrants back to France, despite Warning from government lawyers that such operations may be illegalThe Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the staff of the border guards are undergoing training Use of “steer” tactics at sea Based on a two-year plan.
Patel also had Seeking to introduce legal protection for border guard staff Send the ship back when the refugee drowns. The French government rejected the reversal plan on the grounds that it might be life-threatening.
Offshore asylum processing
Another controversial idea is to send asylum seekers to another country, such as Gibraltar or an island in the South Atlantic, while their applications are being processed. It sparked cross-party angerThe plan “for those who use secret passages to enter the UK may outsource the asylum processing center” was quickly compared to Australia’s offshore outsourcing of asylum seekers Manus Island and other places in Papua New Guinea.
Criminalize the manipulation of small boats
Since the beginning of 2020, the British government has been seeking to crack down on strait crossings by prosecuting people who drive small boats carrying asylum seekers.
However, the government successfully prosecuted 67 policies related to the driving of small boats under the smuggling law and was challenged last week. Cause the government to fail.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the convictions of four asylum-seekers for driving across the strait in a small boat “must be revoked in due course” on the grounds that they were systemic errors. The judge stated that the prerequisite for such a conviction is that the prosecution can prove that the person accused of driving the vessel “knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that his actions were to assist in entering or attempting to enter the UK without permission”.
mark
According to the “New Immigration Plan” of the Ministry of the Interior, Patel is expected to announce at the beginning of the new year that the arrival of the boat will be electronically marked.
The ministers hope that labeling people of working age will make it more difficult for them to work illegally during the asylum application process and make it easier to deport those who have failed their asylum applications. The plan was described by the CEO of the Joint Commission on Immigration Welfare as “desperate and harsh.”
Cooperation agreement with France
Patel also tried to solve this problem financially: So far, She made two multi-million pound deals with French authorities One was carried out at a price of more than 28 million pounds in November 2020, and the other was carried out at a price of at least 54 million pounds in July-to strengthen surveillance of the 93-mile French coastline, from where it tried to reach the United Kingdom.
The British government repeatedly asked for joint strait patrols with the help of border guards and French navy personnel, but was refused. France.
Refugee activists claim that opening up a safe and legal route for asylum seekers who wish to come to the UK-almost all people seeking asylum in the UK do not have this option-will prevent many people from trying to make dangerous crossings in small boats.
The Home Office still requires people to arrive in the UK in person before submitting an asylum application.
