If adopted, the new bill would deny the right to receive refugee protection for people coming to the UK irregularly, such as by risking their lives to cross the English Channel in small boats.
Instead, these refugees will face detention and deportation without investigation of their personal circumstances.
“would be a Clear Violation of Refugee Convention And would undermine a long-standing humanitarian tradition that the British people are proud of. UNHCR Said.
The UK is one of the original signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which recognizes that refugees may enter a country of asylum irregularly.
60 percent increase
According to UK government statistics, Some 45,000 people to cross the Channel in small boats in 2022, a 60 percent increase since last year.
UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Security Gillian Triggs tweeted that she “deeply concerned“Introduced on Tuesday in the House of Commons by the UK Bill.
UNHCR said in a statement that the UK is not part of any agreement that would allow authorities to share responsibility for refugees with safe third countries.
The UN agency also recalled that the UK’s bilateral arrangement with Rwanda announced in 2022 failed to meet necessary international standards.
In June last year, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees dismissed the UK-Rwanda deal as “wholly wrong”.
The UNHCR said it would continue to support Britain in strengthening its asylum system and urged the government and legislators to reconsider the bill and “Pursue more humane and practical policy solutions,