The British government will be threatening lawyers who help make a false asylum claim and thereby commit asylum fraud with a life sentence.
According to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior, the German Tagesschau that the British government wants to take tougher action against lawyers who help migrants falsify asylum applications. This includes lawyers who advise migrants on how to fraudulently stay in the country. They could then be sentenced to life in prison for assisting illegal immigration. “Fraudulent immigration lawyers must be rooted out and brought to justice,” Interior Minister Suella Braverman was quoted as saying by the dpa news agency. Furthermore, she said that while the majority act with integrity, it is known that some will lie to help illegal immigrants trick the system.
“Illegal Migration Act” as template for tougher crackdown
In addition, Rishi Sunak’s government is tightening the tone on housing migrants on a residential ship off the coast of southern England. The government in London plans to deploy more similar residential ships. Secretary of State Sarah Dines said the goal is to cut costs in this way. The British government only recently tightened up asylum law with a new decree. The Illegal Migration Act, which was recently passed by Parliament, provides for the deportation of almost all refugees who have entered the country illegally. Those affected can be taken into custody and flown out without judicial review.
Image: Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street, Rishi Sunak Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2021, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (no changes made)