Last week we published a briefing on the legal changes to the criminalisation of people seeking asylum in the UK and a new report “No Such Thing as Justice Here” looks at the impact these changes have had in practice. The report is published by the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford and Border Criminologies and based on observations of over 100 hearings as well as the casework of Humans for Rights Network, Captain Support UK and Refugee Legal Support. The report states that:

Despite the Government’s rhetoric, both offences target people with no role in organised criminal gangs. The vast majority of those convicted of both ‘illegal arrival’ and ‘facilitation’ had ongoing asylum claims. Victims of torture and trafficking, as well as children with ongoing age disputes, have also been prosecuted.

Those who were charged faced short hearings in the magistrate courts, usually within 48 hours of their arrival. Proceedings were often complicated or significantly delayed by poor interpretation and faulty video link technology. Bail was routinely denied without proper consideration of each individual’s circumstances.

In the first year following the changes made by the Nationality and Borders Act, 240 people arrived on small boats and were charged with ‘illegal arrival’. In 2022, one person for every ten boats that arrived was arrested for their alleged role in steering, this increased to one in seven in 2023. Despite this, as also acknowledged by the Court of Appeal in R v Ginar [2023] EWCA Crim 1121, there is no evidence of any deterrent effect, which was the government’s justification for these changes. This is about causing harm, and little else.