Following a stream of protests against the Nationality and Borders Bill, the House of Lords has inflicted multiple defeats on the government. It has:
• Removed Clause 11, which would create a two-tier asylum system based on whether asylum-seekers arrived in the UK with or without official entry clearance.
• Removed Clause 28, which would allow asylum-seekers to be removed from the UK and sent to a third country for their claim to be processed.
• Removed the parts of Clause 39 that would make it a criminal offence for a person to arrive here without valid entry clearance to seek asylum.
• Removed the section of Clause 40 that widens the offence of helping an asylum-seeker to include all assistance rather than just “for gain”.
• Removed Clause 15, which would create powers to declare an asylum claim inadmissible if it was made by a person with a connection to a safe third country.
• Inserted a new clause to allow unaccompanied children in Europe with a close family member in the UK to enter in order to claim asylum.
• Amended the Bill to allow asylum-seekers to work if they are still waiting on their claim after six months.
• Inserted a new clause to commit the UK to resettling 10,000 refugees annually.
• Amended the Bill to say it can be enacted only in ways that comply with the UK’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.
• Amended to specify that powers of immigration and enforcement officers can only be used when they do not endanger life at sea (this in the context of Government plans to “push back” boats in the Channel).
And:
• Removed the high-profile Clause 9, which would allow the Home Secretary to remove citizenship without notice.
This is taken from Parliament's website. The Electronic Immigration Network website reports some of the changes somewhat differently. But the basic thrusts are clear.
Once again, if the House of Lords acts as the bulwark of humanitarian and democratic values, it shows how far right ordinary politics has shifted.
The government may well attempt to overturn the amendments; even amended the Bill is poisonous; and it builds on decades of anti-refugee and anti-migrant legislation. It needs further gutting, and complete wrecking if possible. The left must escalate the protests — and push for a serious labour movement campaign to demolish the whole anti-migrant structure.