The Illegal Migration Bill, which is currently making its passage through Parliament, represents a dangerous and far-reaching attack on refugee and migrants’ rights in the UK, human rights more broadly, and domestic and international law. 

We are profoundly concerned by the proposals laid out in the Illegal Migration Bill. If passed in its current form, the Bill could see as many as 250,000 people, including some 45,000 children, have their claim to asylum deemed inadmissible – not eligible for consideration – over the next three years if they arrive by routes considered to be ‘irregular’ by the Government. The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, views this as a ban on asylum.

With no realistic prospect of a return to their country of origin, or a safe third country, the Bill would effectively lock those whose asylum claims are deemed inadmissible out of society, leaving them to face an indefinite period of extreme hardship and poverty, unable to work and made vulnerable to exploitation. The inevitable outcome for many would be homelessness and destitution. The Bill will also strip back the pathways, including legal routes, out of inadmissibility, preventing people from resolving their immigration status and exercising their fundamental human rights. All for seeking safety for themselves and their families. 

As well as the significant risk of harm this deliberately punitive immigration policy presents to individuals, it will have a profound impact on communities across the UK, driving more people into needless poverty and undermining the basic human rights that we are all entitled to. 

As a network of charities supporting and accommodating people experiencing destitution in the asylum and immigration system, NACCOM has joined with other organisations working in the fields of human rights and refugee rights to oppose the Bill through a joint petition. 

SIGN THE PETITION BELOW

➡️ Read our open letter to Michael Gove on the Illegal Migration Bill and risks of homelessness and destitution

➡️ Read our joint briefing with Praxis on the impacts of the Illegal Migration Bill and risks of homelessness and destitution

Joint petition: Stop the cruel and unworkable 'Illegal Migration Bill'

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This petition has been jointly coordinated by the following organisations; 


(As a joint petition, all signatures will be collated and handed in by Liberty. If you sign, the data you provide in signing this petition will be shared with Liberty for this sole purpose. You will not be contacted by Liberty. Read Liberty’s privacy policy here.)

Dear Prime Minister,  

  

Your Illegal Migration Bill shamefully uses a crisis of humanity as cover for a power grab. It will strip away the basic rights of refugees, victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, and other people who move, while bulldozing domestic and international laws in the process.  

 

It will remove fundamental human rights from people who have fled life-threatening situations in their home countries and sought safety and protection in the UK, in order to score cheap political points – endangering them in inhumane detention centres and putting them at risk of further harm, torture, and even death if deported. This includes women, children, and LGBTQI+ people fleeing countries known to be unsafe as well as victims and survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking. By doubling down on the hostile environment, the Bill will also increase the risk of people being trafficked and exploited. 

 

The State must never pick and choose who is allowed to exercise their basic human rights.  While this Government’s plans will harm those seeking safety the most, this is an attack on all of us and the values we hold dear. 

 

As caring people, we need to do the right thing and treat everyone with compassion. We need safe routes now, so that people can seek safety and a better life without the need to undertake dangerous journeys and without being punished for how they enter the UK. We need to create an asylum and immigration system that treats everyone with dignity and respect. 

 

It is not too late to abandon these inhumane plans and restore the UK’s reputation as a country that cares. This Bill cannot and does not represent us. 

 

We demand that you urgently abandon your cruel and unworkable Refugee Ban Bill.

 

Signed:  






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