Reforms to Britain’s asylum system are “at odds” with the country’s human rights obligations and risk upending its tradition of “championing” refugee rights, parliamentarians have said.
A new report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights has warned the government against using “punitive measures” proposed in the Nationality and Borders Bill instead of processing migrant applications more quickly.
“Rather than coming up with new punitive measures and lambasting the difficulties in rejecting asylum applications, the Government should focus on dealing with the lengthy backlog of cases. This needs to be achieved by better processing and adequate resourcing,” said the committee’s deputy chairwoman and MP, Joanna Cherry, QC.
The report says legislating to create different categories of refugee based on how they reached the UK would be inconsistent with the Refugee Convention and a potentially discriminatory breach of human rights.
Instead of combatting people-smugglers, the Committee found the legislation would penalise asylum claimants for not utilising “safe and legal routes”, despite there being a “paucity of options” for refugees trying to enter the UK.
This and other proposed reforms, including permitting more asylum claims to be rejected without consideration and introducing the possibility of offshore processing of asylum claims, risk undermining the humanitarian principles on which refugee protection is founded.
“Instead, we have measures that would harm decision-making, through needlessly penalising the late submission of evidence, and even cause further delays due to the new consideration of whether asylum seekers should have applied to another country first,” said Ms Cherry.
The Scottish politician and lawyer said the bill would increase the likelihood of Britain “turning its back” on people in need and urged the Government to rethink current proposals.
Home Secretary Priti Patel’s flagship Nationality and Borders Bill went through a second debate reading in the House of Lords, the UK Parliament’s upper house, earlier this month.
There, it faced heavy criticism from peers including former home secretary David Blunkett, who called the reforms “delusional”.
Campaigners and activists have denounced the plans as being overly hostile towards the most vulnerable people.
The legislation seeks to curb English Channel crossings and change the way asylum claims are processed. The Bill gives Border Force officers powers to turn migrants away from the UK while at sea and makes it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK without permission.
The maximum sentence for those entering the country unlawfully would rise from six months’ imprisonment to four years.
Clause 9 of the Bill would allow the government to strip people of their British citizenship without warning, a move the Committee said “undermined the principle of fairness” and should be scrapped.
Government plans to lower the age threshold for giving the benefit of the doubt to migrants believed to be lying about their age may also result in more children being wrongly identified as adults, it said.
The Committee raised concerns about new powers to allow scientific methods, such as X-rays and dental analysis to be used to assess applicants’ age and said medical bodies had questioned the accuracy of such techniques for age verification.
WORLD'S%2010%20HIGHEST%20MOUNTAINS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Three trading apps to try
Sharad Nair recommends three investment apps for UAE residents:
- For beginners or people who want to start investing with limited capital, Mr Nair suggests eToro. “The low fees and low minimum balance requirements make the platform more accessible,” he says. “The user interface is straightforward to understand and operate, while its social element may help ease beginners into the idea of investing money by looking to a virtual community.”
- If you’re an experienced investor, and have $10,000 or more to invest, consider Saxo Bank. “Saxo Bank offers a more comprehensive trading platform with advanced features and insight for more experienced users. It offers a more personalised approach to opening and operating an account on their platform,” he says.
- Finally, StashAway could work for those who want a hands-off approach to their investing. “It removes one of the biggest challenges for novice traders: picking the securities in their portfolio,” Mr Nair says. “A goal-based approach or view towards investing can help motivate residents who may usually shy away from investment platforms.”
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
THE TWIN BIO
Their favourite city: Dubai
Their favourite food: Khaleeji
Their favourite past-time : walking on the beach
Their favorite quote: ‘we rise by lifting others’ by Robert Ingersoll
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
