‘The asylum bill revolt is no surprise. It continues cruel anti-migrant policies’

February has brought with it the Border Security, Immigration and Asylum Bill – Labour’s plan for our asylum and migration system – a priority that has taken up the majority of the new government’s attention since July.

The government was elected on a platform of change, with its manifesto speaking to its belief in compassion alongside control – reinforcing that ours is a ‘tolerant and compassionate country… [with] a proud tradition of welcoming people fleeing persecution and abuse.’

There are positives to the legislation – with plans finally put forward to scrap the Rwanda plan, and repeal some of the worst elements of the Illegal Migration Act. But for something called an asylum bill, and one which follows the summer’s far-right riots, the legislation actually says very little about supporting people seeking asylum, or to show that compassion.

The Bill retains much of the cruelty of the previous government

In parliament, much was made about the Bill signalling a return to the international rule of law, with the Home Secretary speaking to repealing ‘chaotic, gimmicky and broken laws’ such as Rwanda. The return to the rule of law and a fair asylum system would indeed be welcome. Sadly, the Bill retains much of the cruelty of the previous government. The government must act to redress this.

At Rainbow Migration we support LGBTQI+ people fleeing persecution and seeking refuge in the UK. People like Nisha, a trans woman from India, whose parents had forced her to undergo conversion therapy, and made threats of violence against her. Or people like Noah, a gay man who we supported to seek asylum after he fled homophobic persecution in Georgia. Noah said he would rather take his own life than go back to Georgia and continue facing persecution.

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He also told us: “I was taken to hospital. In Georgia people don’t understand. When your family finds out that you are gay, they think you need to go to the hospital because your mental health is so bad, they think it’s impossible for men to love men, or women to love women. Or they think that you are a demon and that you need an exorcism.”

Despite there being widespread evidence of the persecution of minorities in Albania, Georgia, and India, the Conservative government introduced legislation to add them to its “safe states” list, deeming asylum and human rights claims from those countries automatically inadmissible. This legislation remains, even with the Georgian government recently curbing LGBTQI+ rights, introducing repressive legislation restricting same-sex marriage, gender-affirming surgery, and the sharing of information that could be perceived as “LGBTQI+ propaganda” in schools and the media.

Safe state designations risk sending people to countries where they will be persecuted

International refugee law prohibits refoulement – the expulsion of refugees to their country of origin when they could be subjected to serious human rights violations. We are concerned that “safe states” designations risk sending people to countries where they will be persecuted for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

When concerns have been raised about the risk of serious harm for LGBTQI+ people in unsafe countries, the Home Office’s defence to date has been that the blanket inadmissibility provisions have ‘not been commenced’, and so are not yet in effect. With this in mind, we had thought the new bill provided an ideal opportunity to repeal the legislation.

It is therefore worrying to see no attempt from the government to remedy this wrong.

Thankfully there were signs of a backbench backlash at the Bill’s second reading, with many MPs calling on Ministers to end blanket inadmissibility. Olivia Blake told the chamber that several ‘opportunities have been missed’ in the new bill, highlighting in particular that Georgia is ‘becoming an increasingly hostile and dangerous place for LGBTQI+ people’. Zarah Sultana similarly called on Ministers to repeal the designations, asking other MPs to think of ‘the LGBT community in Georgia, journalists in Albania, or Kashmiris and religious minorities in India.’

In wider pushback against punitive and cruel policy-making, Nadia Whittome – who also challenged “safe states” designations – has called out the ‘continuation of the performative cruelty’ of the previous government, and Clive Lewis has challenged the Home Office for ‘enabling the mainstreaming of racism’ through its release of deportation footage. Hundreds of Labour Party members, including MPs and trade union leaders, have urged the government to oppose anti-migrant politics, asking it to leave “performative cruelty” behind.

These are many good reasons for an about-turn from the new government. The electoral coalition that brought the landslide majority is fragile, and weak to other progressive parties. Millions voted for hope and change, and instead are seeing punitive and cruel policies that attack people fleeing persecution.

Rather than a race to the bottom of the barrel, the new government has an opportunity to put forward a fair new plan for refugees – rooted in fairness, justice and compassion. We urge the new government to repeal all legislation endangering queer asylum, and allow people to rebuild their life in safety here.

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