UK faith leaders urge government to rethink ‘discriminatory’ borders bill

Refugees Welcome: Critics say bill will ‘close the door’ to those seeking asylum in the UK, including those fleeing Ukraine

Migrants in a dinghy sail in the Channel toward the south coast of England in September 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)

More than 1,000 faith leaders have urged the government to reconsider its controversial Nationality and Borders Bill, which will criminalise and restrict the rights of all people who arrive in the UK without a visa.

If the bill passes - it is entering its final stages in the House of Lords - people trying to seek asylum in Britain, such as those now fleeing Ukraine, could be treated as second-tier refugees, or even criminals, as they would be arriving via irregular routes.

It comes as UK charities backed The Independent’s Refugees Welcome campaign, calling on the British government to set up an urgent and properly funded resettlement programme for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.

In a letter sent to prime minster Boris Johnson, the faith leaders warned: “While there is still conflict and injustice in the world, there will always be desperate people needing to seek sanctuary from war, persecution and suffering. We cannot close our door on them, but this bill does just that.”

Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and Zara Mohammed, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, are among the signatories of the letter, which has support from leaders across all six major faith groups in the UK.

More than 116,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began on Thursday, with this number expected to rise in the coming days and weeks, according to the UN. Currently, there is no specific resettlement scheme in the UK for Ukrainian refugees.

If the Nationality and Borders Bill is enshrined in law, the UK’s immigration system will allow for “differential treatment” of refugees depending on how they reached Britain.

Those who arrive with visas or via resettlement schemes will be granted “all of the benefits, in inverted commas, of coming into the UK,” Sophie McCann, an advocacy officer at MSF, told The Independent. “So they can they can work, they have recourse to public funds, and they have access to a family reunion.”

Those who arrive irregularly, such as via boat or lorry, will have their rights restricted - irrespective of whether these individuals have family members in the UK.

“Someone who doesn't have a visa, basically the government is terming them illegal, which is at odds with the Refugee Convention - or a misinterpretation of it,” Ms McCann said.

The bill would make it a criminal offence to arrive in the UK “without a valid entry clearance”, the maximum sentence for which would be four years’ imprisonment. Peers will vote on an amendment to remove this clause from the bill.

Critics of the proposed legislation say it will effectively shut the door to refugees as the vast majority of people seeking asylum have no option but to use irregular routes to travel to the UK, given the lack of resettlement schemes available to them.

The faith leaders’ letter calls on the prime minister to make substantial changes to the bill. These include abandoning the government’s plans to criminalise and restrict the rights of all people arriving in the UK seeking refugee protection outside pre-arranged schemes. The signatories say this policy was made “without a basis in evidence or morality”.

The coalition group Freedom from Torture said the bill had been brought under renewed focus amid the conflict in Ukraine, which has forced more than 100,000 people to flee the country. If passed, the bill “will criminalise and deny protection to Ukrainians who make their own way to safety in the UK,” said chief executive Sonya Sceats.

“Make no mistake, any parliamentarian who votes in favour of this bill is voting to slam the door in the face of Ukrainian men, women and children in need.”

The signatories of the letter also assert that the government must urgently address the UK’s failure to establish safe routes into Britain, which would help people seeking sanctuary. They urge Mr Johnson to be “compassionate and ambitious” in opening family reunion and resettlement schemes and routes for unaccompanied refugee children in Europe.

Ms Mohammed said: “There are many provisions in the Nationality and Borders Bill that are deeply concerning for faith communities.

“We must, therefore, not abandon our moral obligation to ensure safe passage for those who need it, to have a fair and equitable asylum process and protect nationality as a right, not just a privilege. We have a duty to uphold the UK's proud tradition as a nation made all the richer by those who come here to build a better life, or seek sanctuary from persecution.”

Under the proposed law, the Home Office would also be able to strip any British national of their citizenship “where they are deemed to have claim to citizenship of another country” and where there was a “public good”.

Critics say the law creates a situation where millions of British citizens who either came to the country as immigrants or are recently descended from immigrants will not enjoy the same rights to keep their citizenship as others.

As part of plans to tighten the UK’s borders, the government is considering offshore processing and is proposing to build large scale accommodation centres in the UK which will hold up to 8,000 people at one time.

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism, said: “I implore the government to open safe passages and not discriminate against those who, in vital need of sanctuary, find whatever way they can to reach a place of refuge.”

The government has said that the the Nationality and Borders Bill reduces the pull factor to the UK and aims to make the asylum system firmer and fairer by differentiating between those coming through parallel illegal routes and those using safe asylum schemes.