“Fair but Firm”, says Priti Patel.
The Home Office published a new plan for immigration on 24th March concerning the illegal immigrants who are entering the UK and taking Asylum. The underlying plan is set up to build and create a better and fair illegal and Asylum immigration system that cannot be mistreated or misused by the migrants.
As per the Home Office records, asylum proposals are most of the time irrelevant and are not according to the rules set by the Home Office and are being misused by the migrants. The document published by the Home Office on this matter includes the word ‘illegal’ more than 70 times. There are over 30,000 illegal attempts that were made by people wishing to enter the UK through illegal means. This new plan will contrast the idea of entering the UK illegally through the well-ordered and well-executed plan of resettlement.
What does the Government want to Achieve from New Plan for Immigration?
The following are the objectives of the Government’s new plan for immigration:
- To increase the fairness and effectiveness of the immigration system, for those who deserve and have genuine needs.
- To discourage illegal means of entry to the UK, breaking the human trafficking networks and their business.
- To remove people from the UK who have no right to stay.
Over the last five years, the UK allowed and fused 26,000 refugees into their population of which 80% were Syrians. By looking around the globe, there are more than 25 million refugees in the world who cannot be entertained by the UK seeking asylum and refugee status. This plan is placed to segregate migrants who came to the UK through ‘safe and legal routes’ and who arrived through illegal means. This will eventually create a two-tier system for Asylum seekers in which migrants who came to the UK through safe and legal routes will be treated better than the migrants who choose to enter illegally against the law of the UK.
Relaxation and changes in policies:
ILR will be granted to the refugees on their arrival, after execution of this plan, as opposed to the five-year leave to remain which is currently being exercised. Also, unmarried dependent children under the age of 18 are being entertained now, however, this age limit has been stretched to 21 years if both parents are in the UK under refugee status.
Reprimand for entering the UK illegally:
In contrast with the above refugees, migrants who enter the UK illegally will be facing punishment. They will have fewer rights than before. This plan allows the Home Office to not consider the claims if the person came from a safe country and will be considered barred from the Asylum system. There will be a presumption that people can be returned to the EU and other developed countries so people can be removed despite having a pending asylum claim or appeal which will eventually lift the load of the Home Office and focus more on the claims that came through a safe and legal route. People might be punished with a new status that is temporary protection which will allow the migrants to live in the UK for 30 months, with no recourse to public funds and “restricted” family reunion rights. This is for people who are barred from the claims and are unable to return to any other country and who meet the following criteria:
- Did not come to the UK directly
- Did not claim without delay
- Unable to show valid reason to be in the UK
Additionally, there will be an increase in the duration of the sentence for migrants entering the UK illegally. Currently, these people face a sentence of a maximum of six months; however, this has been increased but not yet specifically mentioned in the document published by the Home Office.
