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Clause 2 of the Bill places a duty on the Secretary of State to make arrangements as soon as reasonably practicable to remove any person who enters the UK irregularly, and has not come directly from a territory where their life and liberty was threatened (which includes anyone who has passed through or stopped in another a safe country). Is this approach compliant with the UK’s obligations under the UN Refugee Convention? What proportion of asylum seekers currently stop in or pass through a safe third country and would therefore be subject to removal from the UK without any assessment of their claim?
There is no requirement in the Refugee Convention that asylum seekers travel directly to the UK, as found by the High Court in R v Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court ex parte Adimi [2001]QB 667 and the House of Lords in R v Asfaw [2008]UKHL 31. To decide otherwise would completely undermine the underlying principle and purpose of the Refugee Convention to achiev…