Stop the Anti-Refugee Bill

The Government is trying to pass an anti-refugee bill (also known as the Nationality and Borders Bill), that will fundamentally change the right to claim asylum in this country. We, and more than 250 other refugee organisations and campaigning organisations, are opposed to this Bill and the damaging consequences it will bring if passed.

Under international law, every person has the right to apply for asylum in any country that has signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, of which the UK is a signatory.

This Bill will:

• Criminalise people with credible and legal asylum claims who arrive in the UK ‘via ‘irregular routes’
• Proposes to detain people (possibly in detention camps, some offshore) whilst their asylum claim is processed (currently in the UK 76% of all people seeking asylum wait longer than six months for a decision; and the backlog has grown ten-fold in the last 10 years)
• Make it quicker for people to be removed unfairly and without proper legal advice
• Lessens the chance a person’s family will be granted leave to enter or remain.

Under the bill, only refugees arriving through extraordinarily restricted ‘official’ routes, such as refugee resettlement, will be allowed to claim protection. All others will be deemed ‘inadmissible’ to claim asylum and the Government will seek to deport them. If they cannot be deported, they may be allowed to claim asylum in the UK but only granted ‘temporary protection’, which gives them a limited right to remain. Under a limited right to remain, a person would be subject to ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ and encounter restrictions on family reunion. This will inevitably cause homelessness, destitution and more pressure on public services.

This is a significant piece of legislation. We must work together to oppose this Bill and develop an effective asylum system. Please join us.

Read more here:

Read this brilliant article from Free Movement: https://www.freemovement.org.uk/priti-patel-borders-bill-refugees/

Read ACH analysis of the Bill: https://ach.org.uk/news-and-features/responding-nationality-and-borders-bill-seeking-asylum-human-right

Read the Refugee Council’s take on it: https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/latest/news/the-nationality-and-borders-bill-a-devastating-day-for-refugee-protection/

Take Action

Contact your local MP here: https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/

Join Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees here: https://www.wandsworthwelcomesrefugees.org/ 

Join Refugee Action with their actions here: https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/campaigns/stand-up-for-asylum/

Sign the Refugee Council petition: https://refugeecouncil.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-for-us/fight-governments-anti-refugee-bill/

Lift the Ban: http://lifttheban.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Lift-The-Ban-Common-Sense.pdf#:~:text=ABOUT%20LIFT%20THE%20BAN%20The%20Lift%20The%20Ban,trade%20unions%2C%20charities%2C%20think%20tanks%20and%20faith%20groups.