What just happened?
Downing Street has been considering adopting an Australian offshore detention system. The Foreign Office revealed Downing Street has sought its advice on “negotiating an offshore asylum processing facility similar to the Australian model in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.”[1] If this system is implemented it will raise a series of human rights violations.
What does this mean?
This plan is part of Priti Patel’s aim to bring in legislation next year to stop ‘endless legal claims’ from people who are refused asylum.[2] Patel has already announced plans to introduce an Australian immigration points-based system aimed at massively restricting immigration post Brexit.[3]
In an attempt to strengthen asylum policy, Operation Sovereign Borders were introduced in Australia in 2013, placing the military in control of asylum operations.[4] Asylum seekers who reach Australia by boat are sent to an offshore processing centre. Currently, Australia has one such centre on Nauru and in Papua New Guinea (PNG).[5] Rights groups say conditions in the PNG and Nauru camps are totally inadequate, citing poor hygiene, cramped conditions, unrelenting heat, and a lack of facilities.[6] This policy continues to receive worldwide condemnation from governments, legal groups, United Nations bodies, and human rights NGO’s for its radical lack of transparency and documented failures including human rights abuses and flouting of international law.[7]
They did not plan for that! The leaks show the UK government’s proposed plans for offshoring Asylum Seekers.
Implementing an offshore detention centre in the UK is not a new idea, it was considered, but then abandoned by the Blair government 15 years ago.[8] Recently, Patel has directed an extensive amount of government attention towards the idea of an offshore detention centre. For weeks officials have weeks been working on ‘detailed plans’ that include the cost estimates of building asylum detention camps on the south Atlantic islands, as well as other proposals to build such facilities in Moldova, Morocco and Papua New Guinea.[9]
Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: "this ludicrous idea is inhumane, completely impractical and wildly expensive - so it seems entirely plausible this Tory government came up with it”.[10] Many would agree, as such a policy grossly violates both the ECHR and the Human Rights Act 1998. As Colin Yeo, a barrister and author who specialises in asylum law states, “it is very likely illegal to remove people from British soil in order to process their claims abroad and would very likely lead to the sorts of horrendous human rights abuses we’ve seen with the Australian system.”[11] The Refugee Convention and Protocol in Article 33, which stipulates that people seeking asylum are protected against return to a place where their life or freedom may be jeopardised on account of race, religion, or nationality. Known as non-refoulement, this is also a principle in the UN Convention Against Torture.[12]
Regardless of any alteration they UK may make in implementing an overseas detention centre, it is fundamentally flawed and immoral because it “banishes people” and deprives them of access to basic human rights.[13] This has and continues to be depicted by the Australian model, where holding asylum seekers in indefinite detention has caused widespread psychological harm, and exposed them to dangers including physical and sexual assaults[14]
According to Refugee Action, 35,566 asylum applications were made in the UK in 2019 – down from a peak of 84,000 in 2002.[15] This drastic reduction in the number of people seeking asylum in the UK furthers the lack of necessity for Patel and the UK government to even be considering such drastic and inhumane measures.
Written by Venus Amon
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References:
[1] Helen Davidson, ‘UK offshore detention proposal could create ‘human rights disaster’ Australian experts warn’, (The Guardian, 1st October, 2020)
[2] Jemma Slingo, ‘Patel lashes out at “lefty lawyers” in asylum speech’, (The Law Gazette, 5th October, 2020)
[3] Robert Stevens, ‘UK Plans to detain refugees on prison ships’, (WSWS, 5th October 2020)
[4] BBC News, ‘Australia asylum: Why is it so controversial?’, (BBC News, 31st October 2020)
[5] Ibid
[6] Ibid
[7] Ibid
[8] Samria Shackle, ‘Alarming: Experts slam UK plan for offshore asylum centre’, (Aljazeera, 5th October,2020)
[9] Paul Lewis, David Pegg, Heather Stewart, ‘Revealed: No 10 explores sending asylum seekers to Moldova, Morocco and Papua New Guinea’, (The Guardian, 30th September,2020)
[10] BBC News, ‘Ascension Island: Priti Patel considered outpost for UK asylum centre location’, (BBC News, 30th October, 2020)
[11] Ibid
[12] Andonea Jon Dickson, ‘Shipping asylum seekers offshore may boost Priti Patel’s hardline image, but Australian example shows it’s not a policy that works’, (Queen Mary University of London, 6th October, 2020)
[13] Ibid
[14] Ibid
[15][15] Ibid
Disclaimer: This article (and any information accessed through links in this article) is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.