bill’s DEVASTATING IMPACT
The passing of the Illegal Migration Bill means that the legislative landscape will have shifted to deny those claiming asylum the right to seek refuge in the UK. This will have a devastating impact on all the young people we work with.
After leaving their families, fleeing persecution and surviving the journey to the UK, they will be detained indefinitely and at some point, deported.
In a democracy with due process - and with so much opposition to it both nationally and internationally - this bill should not have been passed in its current form.
Having worked with separated young refugee and asylum-seeking people for nearly 20 years, we are deeply disappointed and saddened by its passing. Along with many other amendments, proposals to reinsert a three-day limit on how long children can be detained and a 24-hour maximum for children unaccompanied by an adult, were rejected.
When the bill becomes law, it will turn away anyone - adult or child - who comes to our shores seeking protection. It gives the go ahead for the mass detention of people seeking asylum, including children and pregnant women, who ask for help.
We question what kind of message this sends the rest of the world and we worry about British society becoming more divisive.
There are many unanswered questions as to how the bill will work (especially with the Rwanda scheme still going through the courts), and the extortionate cost of it all to taxpayers.
The likelihood is that the Home Secretary will ask local authorities to continue taking separated young refugees and asylum seekers into their care until such time as they can be deported. This is of some reassurance but we ask for clarification and confirmation.
We echo the words of the UN Refugee Agency and the UN Human Rights Office and urge the government to reverse the law and ensure that the rights of all refugees and asylum-seekers are respected and protected.
We ask that the government looks at other ways forward, such as the creation of a Humanitarian Visa, safe routes for refugees and the speeding up of asylum claims.
Our young people are already talking about the bill and questioning it. In today’s class, one said: “Reading about it made me feel sad and scared - it’s not fair how refugees are being treated. They will have suffered on their journey and will then be told they have to be kept somewhere before being sent to another country.”
In the meantime, our work with vulnerable, separated young people will continue. We will welcome them into our KRAN family and support them as they rebuild their lives, all the while recognising their amazing potential. Their resilience and spirit are what give us hope.