Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's immigration and asylum bill, which includes controversial measures on forced removals, age checks, and family reunion restrictions, is set to be presented to MPs next Tuesday. The legislation has sparked backlash from refugee charities and some Labour, Liberal Democrat, and independent MPs.
The bill aims to limit applications under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which Mahmood claims has been used to frustrate removals. It also proposes strengthening age assessments, including potential use of AI, which critics say could wrongly assess children as adults. A new appeals body within the Home Office would replace the independent court system, allowing immediate removal of those who exhaust appeals.
Refugee charities express concern over the speed of the bill's introduction. Jo Cobley of Safe Passage International warned that restrictions on family reunion would harm unaccompanied children and families torn apart by war. Anita Hurrell of the Refugee and Migrant Children's Consortium highlighted risks to child victims of modern slavery and urged a child rights impact assessment.
Notably, the bill does not include plans to double the time for indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years, which had prompted backlash from up to 100 Labour MPs, including Angela Rayner. However, these changes could still be introduced via secondary legislation.
