- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to keep his promise against English Channel migrants
- Channel migrants will be prohibited from resorting to judicial reviews against their deportation
Ministers are drawing up plans to prevent Channel migrants from bringing legal challenges against deportation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has already explained how the Government intends to automatically stop migrants from applying for asylum as part of its “stop the boats” pledge.
But additional measures are being drafted to reduce immigrants’ ability to initiate judicial reviews or appeals.
Two separate sets of proposals are being drawn up, the Times reported, which are likely to pit ministers in a major battle with the courts.
The first, and most radical, option would prevent all small boat migrants from seeking judicial review of their exclusion from the asylum system.
Rishi Sunak has promised to strip Channel migrants arriving in the UK in small boats of their right to bring judicial review proceedings to protect them from automatic deportation.
The government claims that by removing the option for migrants to remain in the UK, making the dangerous journey across the English Channel would be much less attractive.
The second proposal would only allow legal challenges to be brought once the migrant has been removed from the UK, a process known as “out-of-country appeals”.
Interior Minister Suella Braverman and the Prime Minister are still finalizing the proposals, but they are likely to be included in a landmark package of measures, possibly later this month.
A Government source said: “The Prime Minister and Home Secretary are working hard to bring forward the legislation as soon as possible and ensure it is legally airtight.”
So-called “out-of-country” appeals, also known as “non-suspensive” appeals, have been widely used in the asylum system for more than 25 years.
In 1996, legislation stated that asylum seekers from “safe third countries” could only appeal from abroad against the Home Office’s decision to reject their case.
The House of Lords, judges and the human rights industry are likely to oppose a broad extension of the same principle because it would cover all nationalities arriving by small boat, even if their country of origin is not considered “safe” .
The Rwandan government’s asylum plan, if ultimately declared legal by top judges later this year, could play a role in the puzzle of new measures.
For example, Canal arrivals from unsafe countries could be sent to Rwanda and file appeals from there.
Yesterday the Mail reported that Mr Sunak said the new legislation would ensure that those who arrived here illegally “will not be able to stay” and that the “vast majority” who cross the Channel will be deported.
He had previously promised that the Government would “stop the boats” as one of his five key promises to voters, after a record 45,756 arrivals from northern France were recorded last year.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is putting unprecedented pressure on our asylum system.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is putting unprecedented pressure on our asylum system.
‘Our priority is to stop this and deter these illegal crossings, and our new Small Craft Operational Command – reinforced by hundreds of extra staff – is working hard to disrupt the business model of people smugglers.
“We are also going further by introducing legislation to ensure that people who arrive illegally in the UK are detained and quickly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.”