"I have been chief executive of the Refugee Council since 2020, and I am struck by the fact that there have been four bills that have become law since I started. A fifth one in as many years is expected soon as Home Office officials beaver away under the orders of the home secretary to quickly turn the proposed asylum reforms, published in November, into legislation."
"It's clear the rhetoric and intent behind all these new laws has been the same: to deter so-called asylum shopping, to disrupt the people-smuggling gangs, to ramp up removals of migrants, to fix the broken asylum system and, ultimately, deliver control of our borders. Soon after Labour came to power, there were hints of a change in tone when Home Office officials quietly said they had been told to stop using the language of illegal arrivals and instead describe them as irregular."
Four asylum-related bills have become law since 2020 and a fifth is expected as Home Office officials work to convert proposed reforms into legislation. The reforms consistently aim to deter so-called asylum shopping, disrupt people-smuggling gangs, increase removals, reform the asylum system, and assert border control. A brief shift in official language from 'illegal arrivals' to 'irregular' did not persist. Recent rhetoric frames asylum seekers, especially single men, as criminals and security threats, with political leaders invoking public safety concerns. That narrative has empowered the far right and encouraged vigilantism against migrants.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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