Nationality and Borders Bill: inadmissibility for those travelling through or with a connection to safe third countries
Updated 13 October 2023
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1. What is inadmissibility?
Some people seeking asylum in the UK have travelled through safe countries such as European countries and may have been in safe countries for some time before making their way to the UK. Around one in six of all asylum applicants to the UK in 2019 were found to have made an asylum application in a European country.
This means that many people arriving in the UK to claim asylum have already had the opportunity to avail themselves of protection in manifestly safe countries with well-functioning asylum systems. People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, rather than making dangerous and unnecessary journeys to the UK to claim asylum here. Therefore, to deter people from making these journeys to the UK we will seek the rapid removal of these individuals to the safe country from which they travelled to the UK or to another safe country.
There were 48,540 asylum applications (main applicants only) in the UK in 2021, 63% more than the previous year. This is higher than at the peak of the European Migration crisis, and the highest since 2003. This results in longer waiting times for those who need protection in the UK.
In 2021, there were around 28,500 people detected arriving in the UK on small boats (8,500 in 2020). People making these crossings have passed through safe countries where it’s reasonable to assume they could have claimed asylum. These are dangerous journeys which we want to discourage people from making.
Therefore, this Bill will update the UK’s asylum framework to reduce the flow of those seeking to enter or stay in the UK illegally.
2. How are we going to do it?
We will strengthen the law so that those who travel through safe countries to reach the UK or have a connection to a safe country where they could have claimed asylum may be considered inadmissible to the UK’s asylum system. We will also strengthen the law to allow us to continue to treat asylum claims from EU nationals as inadmissible to the UK’s asylum system.
We will specify in legislation where an asylum claim can be made. This will include: an asylum intake unit, an immigration removal centre, a port or airport, a location where an officer authorised to accept an asylum claim is present and authorised to receive the claim, a location to which the person has been directed by the Secretary of State to make an asylum claim, within the UK. An officer otherwise authorised to receive a claim for asylum will not be able to accept a claim for asylum in UK territorial seas. This means that people will have to be at a designated place to make a claim for asylum.
We will change the law so that we can more easily and rapidly remove individuals to safe countries known to be compliant with their obligations under the ECHR and the Refugee Convention, unless the individual can demonstrate otherwise.
If we cannot remove someone to a safe country, we will consider their claim – but, should their claim be successful, they may only be granted temporary protection status. For people who have their cases considered, but refused, we will seek rapid removal to their country of origin.
We will reduce the draw of the UK by working to make it possible to have asylum applications processed overseas by a safe third country in future if necessary.
3. Frequently asked questions
3.1 How is this policy compatible with the 1951 UN Refugee Convention which allows for illegal entry?
This policy is compatible with our international obligations as individuals will be protected from being returned to a country where they may be subjected to persecution.
We remain committed to our international obligations under the UN Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights, but those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.
3.2 Why is differentiation required if these individuals would already fall under the conditions for inadmissibility?
A person whose claim may be inadmissible, but cannot be removed to a safe third country for some reason, will have their asylum claim considered in the UK. Where that is the case, they may fall under Group 2 once their claim is determined.