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Government wants change in interpretation of human rights laws
Britain tightens stance as polls indicate immigration concerns
Change in refugee status is part of planned transition
LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Britain will overhaul its approach to human rights laws to make it easier to deport migrants who come to the country illegally in a major overhaul of its asylum policy starting on Monday.
The government said Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood would outline changes to how the European Convention on Human Rights will be interpreted by courts.
“These reforms will stop endless appeals, last-minute claims and remove people who have no right to be here,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
In what the government is claiming is the most sweeping asylum policy change of modern times, Mahmood will also announce plans to make refugee status temporary and quadruple the wait time refugees have to wait for permanent settlement in Britain.
Britain’s Labor government is taking a tough stance as it struggles to curb clandestine migration, particularly through small boat transit. Polls indicate that immigration is voters’ top concern, and the populist Reform UK party has an overwhelming lead in the polls.
The government said that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to a family life, was being abused by migrants to delay their removal from Britain.
It wants the new laws to clarify that family connection means immediate family, such as a parent or child, to prevent people “using dubious connections to remain in the UK”.
It said the UK would also work with like-minded countries to review the application of Article 3, which prohibits torture, noting that “the definition of ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ goes beyond reasonable limits.”
The government has said it wants to remain in the European Convention on Human Rights, amid calls from some in the Reform and Conservative parties for Britain to leave it altogether.
However, the government’s tough stance on immigration has been criticized by charities, who say it pushes desperate people further into poverty.
“These proposals will punish people who have already lost everything,” said Sile Reynolds, head of asylum advocacy at Freedom From Torture. “Eliminating protections that prevent people from being returned to their abusers is not who we are as a country.”
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, said Britain is a “fair, tolerant and compassionate country” but in a more volatile world “people need to know that our borders are secure.”
The government said there would also be reforms to streamline the appeals system, speed up deportation of offenders and prevent abuse of modern slavery laws to prevent expulsions. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Additional reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Christina Fincher)
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