UK Borders Bill increases risks of discrimination, human rights violations

If adopted, the Nationality and Borders Bill would “seriously undermine the extortion of the quality rights of trafficked persons, including children; summation risks of exploitation faced by each migrants and asylum seekers; and pb to superior quality rights violations”, Siobhán Mullally, the UN Special Rapporteur connected Trafficking successful Persons, said successful a statement.

“The measure fails to admit the Government’s work to guarantee extortion for migrant and asylum-seeking children, and greatly increases risks of Statelessness, successful usurpation of planetary law”, she added.

Dangers within

Seeking and enjoying asylum is simply a cardinal quality right, according to the UN experts.

However, the measure does not respect the UK’s obligations nether planetary quality rights and exile law, but alternatively dismantles a halfway extortion of antiauthoritarian societies and pushes susceptible radical into unsafe situations. 

If passed, it could penalize asylum-seekers and refugees, violating the rule of non-punishment successful planetary instrumentality and discriminating betwixt categories of asylum seekers, which is contrary to planetary law, the experts said.

Match words with actions

They besides highlighted the circumstantial risks faced by migrant and exile women.

Under this bill, women who person experienced gender-based unit tin beryllium turned distant from the UK alternatively than beryllium allowed to question and find safety.

“The Government’s repeated nationalist statements connected combating trafficking and modern slavery, indispensable beryllium matched by factual enactment to guarantee adjacent extortion of the instrumentality for each victims of trafficking and modern slavery, without discrimination”, underscored the experts.

‘Arbitrary deprivation’

The experts expressed alarm that the measure would summation the anticipation of “arbitrary deprivation of citizenship”, which they reminded, has a troubled past rooted successful racism and discrimination, and increases the hazard of Statelessness.

“The measure instrumentalizes nationalist information concerns, expanding risks of favoritism and of superior quality rights violations, successful peculiar against minorities, migrants and refugees”, they spelled out, urging the Government “to reverse these projected measures”.

Standing up, speaking out

In November, the experts sent a letter to the UK Government, outlining a scope of concerns astir the bill.

In summation to Ms. Mullally, the different experts who signed the connection were Felipe González Morales, Special Rapporteur connected the quality rights of migrants, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur connected the promotion and extortion of quality rights portion countering terrorism and Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur connected modern forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences.

Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur connected unit against women, its causes and consequences besides endorsed the statement.

Special Rapporteurs and autarkic experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and study back connected a circumstantial quality rights taxable oregon a state situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not paid for their work.