Authorities in Britain seek to make amendments to its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to deny refugee status to foreign nationals convicted of a sexual offence or identified with a criminal conviction that qualifies them for the sex offenders’ register.
The move, spearheaded by Prime Minister Keir Starmer is being implemented to tighten rules ahead of local elections and counter the charge from opponents that it cannot protect its borders, given the entrance into the UK through migrant boat ferries.
The Labour Government is believed to be implementing other shortlisting systems, such as restricting access to the asylum system and ultimately speed up removal of those denied refugee status.
It is also reviewing how courts interpret a migrant’s right to a family life after the rule which guarantees it, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, was used in multiple asylum appeals, with the details regularly reported by British newspapers. “We are reviewing that because we do believe that the way in which it’s being interpreted in the courts is an issue,” interior minister Yvette Cooper told Sky News on Tuesday.
