On Thursday 27th August, Home Secretary was forced to abandon deportation of Channel migrants to Spain owing to legal action from human rights lawyers.
According to The Telegraph, the Home Office had been hit by so many last-minute legal claims that it had no option but to pull the flight. Priti Patel was intent on sending back 23 migrants who had reached the UK on small boats from France.
The ONS notes that in April, May and June – when flights were dramatically reduced – 366 people were forcibly deported. A further 371 agreed to return home, and 1,819 were sent to immigration detention centres.
The Home Office was earlier also forced to remove a video from its official Twitter handle where the video showed that current regulations are "allowing activist lawyers to delay and disrupt returns”. The Home Secretary, is already facing mounting pressure in its handling of the migrant crossings. Priti Patel has been criticised by campaigners, human rights lawyers and Labour party of lacking “compassion” in her “militarised approach” of dealing with the refugees.
Reports indicate that she is now planning to overhaul the asylum laws which she has reportedly claimed are being “exploited by leftie Labour-supporting lawyers” who were doing everything to stop the Government removing people. She is also reportedly working on the introduction of the “fair borders bill” expected to be unveiled this year. It will likely stop people drawing out the asylum applications process by making them declare all their grounds for refugee status when they apply, rather than being able to submit new reasons later.
In the meantime, human rights experts have also accused Patel of ignoring legal guidance in her attempts of targeting child asylum seekers who cannot prove they are under 18. According to The Observer, a letter from the Home Office has revealed that the government is putting pressure on social workers to speed up the age assessment of unaccompanied minors and offering to bankroll councils that face legal challenges as a result.
The letter from the Home Office was sent days after Kent county council revealed that it was unable to look after any more unaccompanied child refugees arriving in Dover, because it had reached capacity. The letter reassures councils that the Home Office will help fund any legal challenge arising from children being assessed. It states, “On the question of age, we ask that all authorities with UASCs [unaccompanied asylum-seeking children] they suspect are over 18 are given urgent age assessments. The Home Office can assist with the practicalities of this and offer support in relation to any subsequent legal challenges.”
The migrants can claim breaches under the European Convention on Human Rights including their rights to a family life (on the basis that they may have claimed relatives in the UK) or that they risked persecution if they were denied asylum in the UK.
