The UK Government’s new immigration bill explained
Earlier this month, the government unveiled its new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. We’ve examined the details to understand what it means for refugees – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
What is it about?
This Bill is part of the new government’s promise to “smash the gangs” and streamline the asylum system. It introduces tougher enforcement measures to target smuggling gangs by using counterterrorism style powers, new seize and search measures, and criminalising those who conspire to plan crossings.
While the Bill focuses on cracking down on traffickers, it misses a critical element: safe routes. These are official immigration pathways that allow people to reach the UK safely for humanitarian reasons. Without them, refugees are left with no other option than to rely on smugglers to reach safety and reunite with family.
tHE GOOD
There are some welcome changes. The Bill repeals the Safety of Rwanda Act, which forced decision-makers - including courts - to treat Rwanda as a "safe country" for deportations. After years of campaigning, it's significant to see this cruel scheme finally scrapped.
It also removes some of the harshest elements of the previous government's Illegal Migration Act - including rules that made asylum claims nearly impossible to process for those entering the UK irregularly, creating huge backlogs and leaving thousands in limbo. Importantly, it ends practices that forced unaccompanied children to endure intrusive scientific age assessments or be detained indefinitely.
tHE BAD
Despite these improvements, the Bill fails to repeal other harmful aspects of the Illegal Migration Act, meaning our immigration system still retains incredibly dangerous, anti-refugee provisions, such as:
Tough detention powers on refugees with limited judicial oversight
A restrictive cap on the number of people coming through safe routes – which, while not yet in use, remains in legislation and could be implemented in the future. Safe routes are the only viable alternative to smuggling gangs, yet they remain too few and too restrictive.
A clause that allows the Home Secretary to label countries as “safe,” meaning asylum claims from those countries are automatically not allowed.
tHE UGLY
Despite this Government’s promises of change, the Bill remains focused on punitive measures that do nothing to stop deaths at sea. It’s part of a wider shift towards a deterrence strategy, as we’ve seen with the recent decision to ban people who’ve come here irregularly from ever getting British citizenship.
By conflating asylum policy with national security, the Bill reinforces harmful narratives that paint refugees as threats rather than as people in need of protection. The Bill also increases sentences for people involved with steering boats – which will likely end up criminalising refugees themselves, who are often forced into helping smugglers with these journeys out of desperation.
Crucially, the Bill fails to commit to opening new safe routes, such as refugee visas, and fixing the UK’s broken family reunion system. Based on our extensive experience working directly with people fleeing war and persecution, we know that safe routes significantly reduce the demand for dangerous journeys. Without them, smugglers will continue to thrive, and refugees will continue dying needlessly at the UK’s borders.
We’ll be sharing this message with MPs and campaigning hard to obtain vital changes to the Bill and our broken system. Read our parliamentary briefing to find out more.