Conservative immigration hardliners in the UK have forced the government to accept concessions leading to asylum seekers being rapidly deported to Rwanda.
Among them is a decision to enforce X-rays on migrants’ collar bones or teeth to determine their age, rooting out those who falsely claim to be children.
With about 150,000 illegal migrants expected to arrive illegally on Britain’s shores this year, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is determined to demonstrate to voters that he can tackle the issue before next year’s general election with his pledge to “stop the boats”.
Within the Migration Bill due to be published next week there are now expected to be amendments that will nullify the right for migrants to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against deportation.
Some far-right Tories were outraged in June last year when the first flight carrying a handful of asylum seekers to Rwanda was halted at the last moment following an ECHR ruling.
But forcing through legislation will mean Britain breaks with the court that it helped found in 1949, allowing it to deport migrants to the African country that it hopes will deter future illegal crossings.
Part of the legislation is also likely to enforce mandatory X-ray or MRI scans to determine the age of migrants claiming to be under 18.
Despite a scientific report recommending that the tests be non-mandatory – as they could not determine age with exact precision – it is understood that Home Secretary Suella Braverman will enforce them.
Another concession will be an amendment to prevent British courts granting injunctions to deportations apart from in exceptional circumstances.
The Home Office has proposed that the only way people can avoid being removed is by proving that they face a “real risk of serious and irreversible harm” in the country to which they are being deported.
One of those could be a former Afghan pilot who fled his country following the Taliban takeover in 2021 and arrived illegally in Britain after a perilous journey.
The pilot, whose name has not been disclosed, is anxious to be reunited with his young family trapped in Afghanistan but has been threatened with the Rwanda deportation.
He told The Independent that he was forced to travel by small boat to Britain because there were no safe routes out of Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
The government is expected to publish its migration amendments on Thursday before it is voted through in the House of Commons next week.
UK government unveils 'robust' bill to stop migrant Channel crossings - in pictures
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The UK's Home Secretary Suella Braverman has unveiled new legislation to address small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel. AFP -
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled the plans for new laws to curb crossings. PA -
Migrants housed at Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent. Almost 3,000 migrants have made unauthorised crossings of the English Channel this year. PA -
Ms Braverman said not responding to the problem would be to 'betray the will of the people we were elected to serve'. AFP -
Mr Sunak met teams at the Home Office Joint Control Room in Dover, Kent. Getty Images -
Critics have warned that the proposals are 'unworkable' and will leave thousands of migrants in limbo by banning them from claiming British citizenship. PA -
Inflatable dinghies and outboard engines, stored in a Port Authority yard in Dover. AFP -
People gather in central Dover to attend a 'Refugees Welcome' rally. AFP -
Ms Braverman said the UK's asylum system has been 'overwhelmed', with almost £7 million ($8.4 million) a day being spent on hotels to house people while their claims are processed. PA
But Downing Street is likely to face a fierce battle getting the legislation through the House of Lords. A former lord chief justice warned on Thursday that preventing the ECHR from blocking migrant deportations was a “breach of the rule of law”.
“This sets an extraordinarily bad example for a country committed to the rule of law to say the government can ignore a judicial order,” Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd told the BBC.
“Having the power to ignore a court order is something that unless the circumstances were quite extraordinary, this is a step a government should never take. It is a symbolic of a breach of the rule of law.”
It is likely the Lords will send the bill back with numerous amendments, making the government take the step of forcing it through parliament.
It will also probably face severe opposition from the courts and human rights groups.
Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, said that the amendment puts Britain in the same bracket as Russia in its disregard for the ECHR.
“The idea that the UK joins Russia and Putin as being the only country that has a derogation from this, I think that’s a serious mistake,” he told Times Radio.
