• Inside Australia’s asylum system – a possible model for the UK

    Guardian Australia reporter Ben Doherty looks at the history behind Australia’s asylum seeker policies, including the controversial practice of offshore processing and resettlement. It’s one of the options the British government is allegedly considering to deter asylum seekers from attempting to cross the Channel to the UK. Journalist Behrouz Boochani, who spent seven years in detention in Papua New Guinea, discusses the impact the policy has had

    Amid a fourfold rise in small boats attempting to cross the Channel and reach the UK this year, Downing Street and ministers have asked Foreign Office officials to consider a wide range of options to deter asylum seekers, according to leaked documents last month. Proposals include offshore asylum processing centres, with one document suggesting Boris Johnson is personally involved in the plan, stating: ‘In addition to the work on OT [British overseas territory] options, the PM has asked for FCDO advice on potential third-country locations. We are asked to suggest options for a UK scheme similar to the Australian agreement with Papua New Guinea.’

    Guardian Australia reporter Ben Doherty tells Rachel Humphreys about the history of Australia’s immigration policies, beginning in 2001, after the Tampa crisis, when a Norwegian freighter that had rescued more than 400 mainly Afghan Hazara refugees from their sinking vessel in international waters 140km north of Christmas Island was refused entry into Australian waters. The MV Tampa provided the conservative Coalition government with a catalyst for action. That was the establishment of “offshore detention” camps on Nauru and on Papua New Guinea, the so-called Pacific solution. The detention facilities have been the subject of serious criticism by international observers and human rights groups. Journalist Behrouz Boochani, who fled Iran for Australia in 2013, was sent to Manus Island. He describes the detention centre as worse than a prison and warns the UK to think hard before they look to replicate the Australian system. “If you do this, you lose your humanity” he tells Rachel.

    https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/oct/21/inside-australias-asylum-system-a-possible-model-for-the-uk
    #modèle_australien #asile #migrations #réfugiés #UK #Angleterre #audio #podcast #Ben_Doherty

    • Migrants entering UK illegally to be liable for removal at any time

      Priti Patel’s New Plan for Immigration risks punishing refugees with no choice about how they seek safety, experts warn

      Migrants who arrive in the UK by small boats or other illegal routes will be indefinitely liable for removal even if they are granted asylum under punishing proposals to be announced by Priti Patel.

      In what the government is billing as the “biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades”, the home secretary will announce on Wednesday that how people enter the UK will have a bearing on the progress of their asylum claim and their status if that claim is successful.

      Experts criticised the creation of a “two-tier” system that risked punishing people “forced to take extraordinary measures [without] a choice about how they seek safety”.

      Patel will vow to make every effort to remove those who enter the UK via routes deemed illegal, having travelled through a safe country in which they “could and should have claimed asylum”, under the “#New_Plan_for_Immigration”.

      If it is not possible to remove them, migrants making successful claims having entered illegally will receive a new temporary protection status rather than an automatic right to settle – and will be regularly reassessed for removal from the UK.

      People entering illegally will be further punished with limited family reunion rights and limited access to benefits.

      Earlier this week it was reported that migrants who come to the UK through a safe and legal resettlement route, conversely, will get indefinite leave to remain immediately upon arriving in the UK under the plans.

      Currently, resettled refugees get permission to stay in the UK for five years after which they must apply again for indefinite leave to remain.

      It has also been reported that asylum seekers will be shipped overseas while their claims are processed, under the proposals, though this was not mentioned in a press statement issued ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.

      The proposals have been drawn up against a backdrop of a record number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK last year in small boats across the Channel, with some political commentators suggesting Boris Johnson was frustrated with Patel’s poor handling of the situation.

      However, official figures show the total number of asylum applications received in the UK last year actually fell by nearly a fifth as alternative means of travel – such as lorries – were hit by the pandemic.

      Patel, who is expected to address the House of Commons on Wednesday, said: “I make no apology for these actions being firm, but as they will also save lives and target people-smugglers, they are also undeniably fair.”

      For migrants who have their applications refused, the government said it will reform the appeals and judicial process to speed up removal. Other proposals, which it is understood will be put out for consultation, include:

      – Reception centres for asylum seekers while their claims are being processed.

      - Clarifying the standard on what qualifies as a “well-founded fear of persecution” and making it harder for people to be granted refugee status based on unsubstantiated claims.

      - Strict age assessment processes, with a national age assessment board to stop adult migrants pretending to be children.

      – Life sentences for people-smugglers and increasing the penalty for foreign national offenders who return to the UK in breach of a deportation order from six months’ imprisonment to five years.

      The Home Office said it will expand the global reach of resettlement routes for refugees – channels facilitated by international organisations such as the UN Refugee Agency to provide safe and legal routes to the UK.

      Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “The government is seeking to unjustly differentiate between the deserving and undeserving refugee by choosing to provide protection for those fleeing war and terror based on how they travel to the UK.

      “The reality is that, when faced with upheaval, ordinary people are forced to take extraordinary measures and do not have a choice about how they seek safety. The government is effectively creating a two-tier system where some refugees are unfairly punished for the way they are able to get to the UK.

      “This is wholly unjust and undermines the UK’s long tradition of providing protection for people, regardless of how they have managed to find their way to our shores … All refugees deserve to be treated with compassion and dignity, and it’s a stain on ‘Global Britain’ to subject some refugees to differential treatment.”

      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/23/migrants-entering-uk-illegally-to-be-liable-for-removal-at-any-time

      #moyen_de_transport