Punishing refugees who seek asylum in the UK is at odds with voters’ views, according to a poll of 1,954 respondents, weighted to reflect the UK population, commissioned by the Law Society
Under the Nationality and Borders Bill, which returned to the House of Commons this week, refugees who make their own way to the UK would be given only temporary protection and few rights while those who apply for asylum before travelling to the UK would receive the full level of support available. However, the Law Society points out that very few refugees are able to do the latter.
I Stephanie Boyce, Law Society president, urged MPs to keep Lords amendments removing punitive measures. Otherwise, the bill’s provisions ‘almost certainly put the UK in breach of the [1951] United Nations Refugee Convention’.
Boyce said: ‘More than two thirds of people (65%) said refugees who have to take clandestine routes to reach safety in the UK should have the same rights as refugees who are brought here by the government.’
