Equalities watchdog of the United Kingdom has warned that Rishi Sunak’s crackdown on small vessels may violate human rights protections.
Today, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued its verdict on the Government’s Illegal Migration Bill and issued a warning that the bill “risks violating international obligations to protect human rights.”
Hinders human rights universality
The organization enumerated a number of “key areas of concern,” including the fact that the Bill “undermines the fundamental principle of the universality of human rights” and “threatens to violate the Refugee Convention by restricting the right to asylum and penalizing refugees.”
The warnings were issued prior to the Bill’s return to the House of Commons for further scrutiny on Wednesday of this week, with ministers proposing amendments that would further toughen the law.
The proposed changes include empowering ministers to disregard temporary injunctions issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that prohibit the removal of Channel crossing migrants from the United Kingdom.