UNHCR Recommendations on the implementation of the Illegal Migration Act 2023
Legal publications
UNHCR Recommendations on the implementation of the Illegal Migration Act 2023
19 October 2023
Following the enactment of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, UNHCR wrote to the Immigration Minister on 9 October, to make a series of recommendations about how specific provisions of the Act should be interpreted and applied in line with the UK’s obligations under international law.
These recommendations cover four key areas:
When and how the Home Secretary should exercise her discretion to grant leave to remain to refugees and stateless people in the UK;
How the requirement to come "directly" to the UK should be interpreted, taking into account the real risks that many people who have been forced to flee their home countries may face en route to the UK;
When an asylum or human rights claim should be considered in the UK, even though a person comes from a country designated as safe by the Act;
The UK’s duty to carry out an individualized assessment of the safety of removal prior to removing a person to a third country.
These recommendations cover four key areas:
When and how the Home Secretary should exercise her discretion to grant leave to remain to refugees and stateless people in the UK;
How the requirement to come "directly" to the UK should be interpreted, taking into account the real risks that many people who have been forced to flee their home countries may face en route to the UK;
When an asylum or human rights claim should be considered in the UK, even though a person comes from a country designated as safe by the Act;
The UK’s duty to carry out an individualized assessment of the safety of removal prior to removing a person to a third country.
Following the enactment of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, UNHCR wrote to the Immigration Minister on 9 October, to make a series of recommendations about how specific provisions of the Act should be interpreted and applied in line with the UK’s obligations under international law.
These recommendations cover four key areas:
- When and how the Home Secretary should exercise her discretion to grant leave to remain to refugees and stateless people in the UK;
- How the requirement to come "directly" to the UK should be interpreted, taking into account the real risks that many people who have been forced to flee their home countries may face en route to the UK;
- When an asylum or human rights claim should be considered in the UK, even though a person comes from a country designated as safe by the Act;
- the UK’s duty to carry out an individualized assessment of the safety of removal prior to removing a person to a third country.
