The expected refugees' legislation after the migrants' tragedy in the English Channel

The expected refugees' legislation after the migrants' tragedy in the English Channel
December 12, 2021, 11:39 am

Zara saleh

Since the beginning of the year, thousands of people have tried to cross the English Channel and enter the UK despite the high level of life risks. The French authorities confirmed that more than 30,000 migrants have attempted to do that, whereas thousands of them have been rescued by French border security.

Taking into consideration all risks and UK-French border restrictions, people continue their 'death journey' and try to enter the UK by small and insecure boats. Last November, 27 people including women and children died when they were trying to cross the English Channel after their dinghy was sunk which considers as the worst disaster on record in recent years that happened. The French police and the British coastguard had ignored the calls from migrants who were on the boat according to two of the survivors from the tragic incident.

As the UK government and Home Secretary has made some radical changes in refugee and asylum seekers law since last July, but it doesn't make any difference regarding the number of people who are attempting to cross the English Channel and enter the United Kingdom. In contrast, the number of migrants who entered the UK has been increased dramatically this year. After the tragic drowning of 27 people, the UK Home Secretary was under critics by human rights organisations, other charities deal with refugee and asylum seekers issues and even members of parliament.

The draft bill that has been prepared by the Home Office Secretary Priti Patel regarding the amendments in refugee and asylum seekers legislations and to tackle and stop the waves of migration through the English Channel is expected to be based on the previous bill that started from July. According to the bill, the person who is found guilty they could face up to one year of prison "Any person who enters or attempts to enter the United Kingdom without legal authority shall be guilty of an offense.”. In other words, people who are entering the UK such as asylum seekers without legal permission could be prosecuted because of entering the UK territories. Added to that there are some plans that might be expected by the
government to send out the migrants and asylum seekers to a "designated place" outside of the UK as a part of the asylum case procedure.

Consequently, such measures and expected steps by the Home Secretary might not help in terms of tackling the migration dilemma according to various activists and cannot stop the migrants' journey to enter the UK. Furthermore, the UK is ranked at the bottom of the European countries regarding asylum seekers' applications. The majority of those people are from areas that are still in ongoing civil war such as Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan, and Sudan. Taking into consideration all these facts and

the successful example of refugees settled in the United Kingdom in recent decades,and even some of them has become members of parliament and local councils in several places and might be as identification of the refugees and asylum seekers and an example of the integration process in British society.