London, Mar. 14, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) - The British government’s controversial asylum proposals have cleared their first hurdle in the House of Commons amid pleas from Tory lawmakers for amendments to protect trafficked women, children and modern slavery victims.
The Illegal Migration Bill aims to stop people claiming asylum in the UK if they arrive through unauthorised means, although it has been denounced by the UN’s refugee agency as an effective “asylum ban.”
The House of Commons, the lower house of parliament, voted 312 to 250 to give the bill a second reading.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the legislation is needed as people arriving in Britain after crossing the Channel have “overwhelmed our asylum system,” before adding there has been “too much” immigration in recent years.
Braverman also said she has been subject to the “most grotesque slurs” for saying “simple truths” about the impact of migration on the country.
But Conservative former prime minister Theresa May warned modern slavery victims will be “collateral damage” and have the door shut on them by measures within the bill.
May said she is expecting to hold further talks with Downing Street to resolve the issues and also noted how, when home secretary, she took action to respond to people jumping in the back of lorries and cars in a bid to get into Britain.
May said: “But what should be clear from this is whenever you close a route, the migrants and the people smugglers find another way, and anybody who thinks that this bill will deal with the issue of illegal migration once and for all is wrong.”
The bill would enable powers to be granted to detain migrants for 28 days without recourse for bail or judicial review, and then indefinitely for as long as there is a “reasonable prospect” of removal.
Challenges based on modern slavery laws would be barred, and any other legal attempt to stay would be heard overseas – after they are removed.
GNA