UK: PM should not pander to extremist ministers by ignoring ECHR decisions in the Immigration Bill

In response to the Government’s plan to ignore ECHR rulings could be written into the Immigration Bill, Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, said:

“The bill is already set to undermine the global asylum system as well as wreck the UK’s commitment to respect for human rights and the rule of law, even before this amendment.  

“How this increasingly authoritarian Government behaves toward people seeking asylum and victims of slavery has wider implications – in the UK and internationally.

“Allowing ministers to simply ignore decisions made by the court responsible for the human rights convention to which this country is a founding party will take the UK further into extremely dangerous territory.

“Ignoring court injunctions whenever the Government feels like it would violate the rule of law and this proposal should be abandoned immediately.

“Rather than pandering to extremists in his party who would walk away from our international legal commitments, the Prime Minister should insist that his Government focuses on establishing a fair and efficient system for processing the asylum claims and taking this country’s share of responsibility in the world.”