Priti Patel’s plans to stop refugees arriving in the UK by turning back small boats in the English Channel are a cruel breach of human rights laws, politicians have warned.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights, made up of MPs and Peers in Westminster, has demanded Patel’s ’ plans to forcibly push back people trying to cross the Channel in small boats should be scrapped, saying they are not compatible with human rights obligations.
A committee report released on Wednesday found that large parts of the Nationalities and Borders Bill to stop people from coming to the UK without a visa or immigration leave could be illegal.
Pushbacks are “not the solution” to curbing Channel crossings and would “do the opposite of what is required to save lives”, the Joint Committee on Human Rights warned.
It described the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill as “littered” with measures which are “simply incompatible” with the UK’s international obligations.
Committee chairman Harriet Harman said: “The Government is determined to prevent these crossings, but pushbacks are not the solution.
"They will not deter crossings, the seas will become even more dangerous and the people smugglers will continue to evade punishment.
"The Bill is littered with measures that are simply incompatible with human rights law and the UK’s obligations under international treaties.
"We cannot see how a policy of pushbacks can be implemented without risking lives, contrary to the UK’s obligations under the right to life and international maritime law.”
Plans to “criminalise” those arrive in the UK without a visa or through other approved immigration routes are “inconsistent” with the United Nations Refugee Convention, which “explicitly prohibits refugees being penalised for unauthorised entry”, the committee said.
Priti Patel has insisted the plan has a “legal basis”, although the Home Office’s permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft previously conceded that only a “small proportion” of boats could be turned back.
A Home Office spokesman said: “As part of our ongoing operational response and to prevent further loss of life at sea, we continue to evaluate and test a range of safe and legal options to find ways of stopping small boats making this dangerous and unnecessary journey.
“These all comply and are delivered in accordance with both domestic and international law.”
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
