Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Will Johnson's government end up jailing Ukrainian refugees?
To say that the UK government's response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has been shameful, is an understatement. Not only is the UK the only country in Europe that requires visas before women and children, who are fleeing a war zone, can enter the country, but the government continue to put as much red tape as possible in their way, making it difficult, if not impossible for Ukrainians to find refuge here.
Now it transpires that a law wending its way through the Parliamentary process could see Ukrainians thrown into prison.
The Guardian reports that ministers have confirmed they are to stick with a planned law change that could potentially see Ukrainians who arrive in the UK without the correct visa jailed for four years.
They say that, while the Home Office has agreed to give way on a couple of amendments, it plans to push ahead again with plans for anyone who arrives in the UK by an unofficial route to have their asylum claim immediately ruled as inadmissible, with the possibility of up to four years in jail, a clause that peers had overturned:
According to a Home Office briefing note for MPs, ministers will still pursue the idea of Australian-style offshore processing centres for refugees, and block other Lords amendments aimed at making it easier for families to be reunited, and for unaccompanied refugee children to come to the UK.
The bill was last considered by MPs in December, and since then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created an estimated 10 million new refugees in Europe, with more than 100,000 Britons signing up to a scheme to house people from the country.
Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, called for Tory MPs to push Priti Patel, the home secretary, into changing course.
“It is unbelievable and deeply shameful that at a time like this Priti Patel is still pushing ahead with plans that could criminalise desperate Ukrainians who arrived in the UK with the wrong papers, and mean vulnerable refugees who have fled war or persecution could end up with prison sentences,” she said.
“I hope Conservative MPs will join us in telling the government to think again. Britain is better than this.”
This is an astonishingly mean-spirited faux pas by the government that is completely contrary to the sympathetic and generous response from the British public to this crisis and its victims.
Now it transpires that a law wending its way through the Parliamentary process could see Ukrainians thrown into prison.
The Guardian reports that ministers have confirmed they are to stick with a planned law change that could potentially see Ukrainians who arrive in the UK without the correct visa jailed for four years.
They say that, while the Home Office has agreed to give way on a couple of amendments, it plans to push ahead again with plans for anyone who arrives in the UK by an unofficial route to have their asylum claim immediately ruled as inadmissible, with the possibility of up to four years in jail, a clause that peers had overturned:
According to a Home Office briefing note for MPs, ministers will still pursue the idea of Australian-style offshore processing centres for refugees, and block other Lords amendments aimed at making it easier for families to be reunited, and for unaccompanied refugee children to come to the UK.
The bill was last considered by MPs in December, and since then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created an estimated 10 million new refugees in Europe, with more than 100,000 Britons signing up to a scheme to house people from the country.
Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, called for Tory MPs to push Priti Patel, the home secretary, into changing course.
“It is unbelievable and deeply shameful that at a time like this Priti Patel is still pushing ahead with plans that could criminalise desperate Ukrainians who arrived in the UK with the wrong papers, and mean vulnerable refugees who have fled war or persecution could end up with prison sentences,” she said.
“I hope Conservative MPs will join us in telling the government to think again. Britain is better than this.”
This is an astonishingly mean-spirited faux pas by the government that is completely contrary to the sympathetic and generous response from the British public to this crisis and its victims.
