After months of debate, opposition from politicians, activists and NGOs and despite an unusually critical statement made by the UN, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 became law in the United Kingdom 20 July 2023.

This act is the second major immigration law passed in the UK during the last two years. The Nationality and Borders Act, enacted in April 2022, was the Boris Johnson government’s plan to fix a “broken” asylum system. But after it failed to have any discernible impact on the number of people making the dangerous journey across the Channel in small boats, the government introduced the illegal migration bill.

The act is in short described as follows on www.gov.uk

“The illegal migration act changes the law so that those who arrive in the UK illegally will not be able to stay here and will instead be detained and then promptly removed, either to their home country or a safe third country.

The act aims to:

• put a stop to illegal migration into the UK by removing the incentive to make dangerous small boat crossings
• speed up the removal of those with no right to be here – in turn this will free up capacity so that the UK can better support those in genuine need of asylum through safe and legal routes
• prevent people who come to the UK through illegal and dangerous journeys from misusing modern slavery safeguards to block their removal
• ensure that the UK continues to support those in genuine need by committing to resettle a specific number of the most vulnerable refugees in the UK every year.”