The United Kingdom government has announced its plan to add India to its expanded safe state list. This would speed up the returning process of Indians who traveled to the country illegally and effectively limit their rights to asylum. On Wednesday, the UK Home Office announced the decision to streamline strengthening the country’s immigration system and improve border control measures. The draft legislation submitted to the House of Commons includes India and Georgia as additions to the list.
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Why is India being added to the safe state list?
Indians make the second largest migrant group crossing over the English channel to find refuge in the UK, according to the UK Home Office. Between January to March of this year, 678 Indian Nationals have entered the country on small boats to avoid work visa restrictions. This surge in small boat arrivals from India and Georgia has prompted the government to reassess asylum seekers from these countries.
Other countries included on the list are Switzerland and Albania and countries in the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). A country can be added to Section 80AA- which is the legislative name for UK’s safe state list- after the Home Secretary is satisfied that there is in general no risk of persecution for nationals of that country, and removing nationals to their home country wouldn’t go against UK’s obligations under the Human Rights Convention.
UK’s statement
“We must stop people making dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK from fundamentally safe countries”, said UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman. She says that adding these countries to the safe state list would send the message that “if you come here illegally, you cannot stay”, along with a swift removal of people who have no right to be in the country. The UK is committed to its Illegal Migration Act that will strive to fight against illegal migration.
This is in line with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to stop illegal migration on the country’s shore by stopping the boats of migrants.
The Home Office stated that adding these countries to the safe state list will mean that if an individual arrives illegally from one, the UK will not admit their claim to their asylum system. It also stated that it has rigorously assessed the two countries and have determined that they meet the criterias for the safe state list. The issue is being handled on all fronts, by working with international partners, stepping up law enforcement to clamp down on criminal gangs, and working with the French to prevent crossings.
This is done to stop the dangerous journeys people make through the English Channel. The Illegal Migration Acts is an important part of the UK government’s effort to break the cycle and end exploitation by gangs, and further loss of life.
Illegal Migration Act 2023
These latest measures are a part of the Illegal Migration act of 2023 which will be debated both the Houses in the Parliament before coming into force. Measures under the act will be implemented in coming months like legal duty to remove.
