The British government on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would give the Home Office a "duty” to remove nearly all asylum-seekers who arrive on small boats across the English Channel, part of a package of measures that has been denounced by international rights organizations and refugee advocacy groups.
The law is the latest in a series of moves by the Conservative government to dissuade people from entering Britain by boat, even though the majority are asylum-seekers fleeing war and persecution. Last April, the government announced a plan— still being challenged in court — to send them to Rwanda.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, whose government office is responsible for the proposal and who announced the measures in Parliament, said that the legislation would make good on an earlier promise by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to restrict the boat crossings.