Rishi Sunak’s government is willing to test how far it can stretch the boundaries of international human rights law to implement its new immigration policy. The Minister of the Interior, Suella Braverman, has sent a letter to conservative deputies in which she explains…

Rishi Sunak’s government is willing to test how far it can stretch the boundaries of international human rights law to implement its new immigration policy. The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, has sent a letter to Conservative MPs in which she explains the reasons for promoting the new law, which would veto asylum applications for people arriving on British shores by boat.

Braverman invoked section 19 of the Human Rights Act 1998, the UK-approved text to ensure that its judges and courts comply with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a party. This article 19 requires the minister responsible for drafting a new law, if its compatibility with the Convention is unclear, to formally acknowledge such doubts if he wishes to continue the process. This is a way to shift all responsibility to the Government and avoid it to Parliament.

“Our approach is powerful and innovative, and that is why I am making this official recognition [a la que estaría obligada]. “This does not mean that the provisions of the new law are incompatible with Convention rights, only that there is a greater than 50% probability that the provisions are incompatible,” Braverman acknowledged in his letter. “We are testing the limits, but we are confident that this new text is in accordance with international law.”

I mean, it might be legit… or it might not. This is an example of the flexibility of Anglo-Saxon common law in dealing with these issues, and also of Downing Street’s willingness to risk Britain’s international credibility in exchange for flattering the ears of the most extreme conservative deputies.

This gives the impression, which many critics of Sunak suspect, that the prime minister wants to be forgiven for the excessive and white-glove diplomacy shown last week with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to push through a new agreement on Northern Ireland, the North and its suitability. with Brexit. One of lime and one of sand. The new plan against irregular immigration (which the British Government calls “illegal immigration”, contrary to United Nations recommendations) strikes both sides. story from the hard wing of the party: immigration and the European Court of Human Rights.

“In the last two years, we have seen a 500% increase in small vessel arrivals. [que cruzan el canal de la Mancha]. This is the key point addressed by this law. “We will not be able to stop these arrivals until everyone knows that, if you enter the UK illegally, you will be detained and deported immediately to your home country or to a safe third country such as Rwanda,” Braverman said in the House of Representatives. Representative on Tuesday in the Commons, where he outlined more details regarding the new Illegal Immigration Act. It was the European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, that in June last year paralyzed the first attempt to deport migrants to Rwanda, after reaching an agreement between London and Kigali to send detainees there and process their asylum applications. The minister has announced the start of negotiations with Strasbourg to avoid a new intervention like his, which he described as “flawed” and “unclear”.

New, stricter measures

Braverman has confirmed in Parliament the new measures referred to in the legislation, which is a draconian attempt to stop ships arriving to the south coast of England. If in 2018 there were 299 immigrants intercepted, according to British Home Office figures, in 2022 the number will increase to 46,000. This is news from a project whose text has not yet been published:

—The head of the Home Office has a legal obligation to “expel all persons entering the UK illegally.” They will be returned to their countries of origin or “to a safe third country.” This means that the possibility of initiating asylum application procedures for those who access the country irregularly is prohibited. Only minors, namely those who cannot fly due to their health conditions, or those who “face a risk of serious and irreparable harm” can delay their deportation.

—The government can detain intercepted irregulars for up to 28 days, without requiring court permission or giving them the opportunity to request release on bail from a judge. However, there is still a right to do so habeas corpusnamely the right to appear physically before a judge to determine the legality of the detention. The Ministry of Home Affairs has four weeks to proceed with the deportation without any obstacles.

—Downing Street claims the law applies retroactively. This means that, while waiting for all parliamentary procedures to be ratified and come into force, in a few months the implementation will begin to be calculated starting this Tuesday. Sunak’s government wants to strengthen the deterrent effect of the rules.

—Persons who access the UK irregularly and are intercepted will be prevented in any way from the possibility of settling. In contrast to existing laws until now, which carry sentences of between five and ten years, the new project would ban people from returning to British territory for life.

—Parliament will each year approve a limit on the number of people who can enter the UK legally, via the “safe routes” that the Government has planned to design (and has not yet done).

Wave of criticism

The opposition Labor Party, aware that irregular immigration is a difficult electoral terrain, has focused its criticism of the project on the impossibility of implementing it, its ineffectiveness, its high costs and the fact that it represents the umpteenth conservative promise to solve the problem. . . “We know that they will dedicate themselves, throughout the next year, to blaming others for the fact that the plan didn’t work. Stop. “We can’t provide more slogans than solutions,” Labor Immigration spokeswoman Yvette Cooper said, criticizing Braverman.

Other left-wing lawmakers, looking to intervene in the debate, attacked the law more harshly. “I call on the minister to tone down his inflammatory tone, which puts immigrants and those who represent them at risk,” demanded John McDonnell, who serves as president. number two from the Labor Party in the previous era led by Jeremy Corbyn. Braverman had just scolded conservative deputies with a promise to immediately expel all “foreign criminals” from the country.

On the same Tuesday, Sunak visited, while Braverman explained the new law to deputies, the port facilities of the city of Dover, where migrants arriving by boat to the British coast and intercepted by the Coast Guard are collected and distributed. The prime minister arrived there by helicopter, met with the officers in charge of the operation, allowed cameras to record all these scenes and then returned to Downing Street to personally defend the new law. On the podium, there is a label Stop the Boat (Let’s stop the boat). “The public must know that if they come here illegally, they will be detained and expelled immediately. And when this happens, and they know it will happen, they will stop coming and we will stop the boats coming,” Sunak promised.

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