Foreign nationals who commit sex offences will be excluded from asylum protections in the UK as part of the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, the British government announced on Tuesday. The UK Home Office said any conviction of a crime that qualifies a foreign national for the sex offenders' register will lead to them being denied refugee status.
Under the United Nations' Refugee Convention, countries are entitled to refuse asylum to terrorists, war criminals and individuals convicted of a "particularly serious crime" who present a danger to the community - defined in the UK as an offence carrying a sentence of 12 months or more.
"Sex offenders who pose a risk to the community should not be allowed to benefit from refugee protections in the UK. We are strengthening the law to ensure these appalling crimes are taken seriously," said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
"Nor should asylum seekers be stuck in hotels at the taxpayers' expense during lengthy legal battles. That is why we are changing the law to help clear the backlog, end the use of asylum hotels and save billions of pounds for the taxpayer," she said.
The law change, which will be introduced through a new amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, is also aimed at tackling violence against women and girls.
"We are determined to achieve our mission of halving violence against women and girls in a decade. That's exactly why we are taking action to ensure there are robust safeguards across the system, including by clamping down on foreign criminals who commit heinous crimes like sex offences," said Jess Philips, UK's Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Minister.
The Home Office said the new law comes alongside stronger measures to cut the asylum backlog and save taxpayer money, by giving the tribunals a new target to reduce the time they take to consider appeals from asylum seekers in accommodation, as well as rolling out artificial intelligence (AI) across asylum processing to speed up decision making.
The new bill will also introduce tougher measures to weed out people who pose as immigration lawyers or advisers, by offering so-called "advice" to migrants on how to claim asylum in the UK and lodge fraudulent claims.
The Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) will get expanded powers to hit these crooks with fines of up to GBP 15,000, the Home Office said.
Officials claimed more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK have been returned since last July, including a 16 per cent increase in removals of foreign criminals, and asylum decision-making up 52 per cent in the last three months of 2024.
Alongside these measures, the Home Office said AI will be deployed to support caseworkers to make swifter decisions on asylum claims - preventing asylum seekers from being "stuck in limbo at the taxpayers' expense", delivering quicker answers to those in need and removal of those with no right to be here.
Under the United Nations' Refugee Convention, countries are entitled to refuse asylum to terrorists, war criminals and individuals convicted of a "particularly serious crime" who present a danger to the community - defined in the UK as an offence carrying a sentence of 12 months or more.
"Sex offenders who pose a risk to the community should not be allowed to benefit from refugee protections in the UK. We are strengthening the law to ensure these appalling crimes are taken seriously," said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
"Nor should asylum seekers be stuck in hotels at the taxpayers' expense during lengthy legal battles. That is why we are changing the law to help clear the backlog, end the use of asylum hotels and save billions of pounds for the taxpayer," she said.
The law change, which will be introduced through a new amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, is also aimed at tackling violence against women and girls.
"We are determined to achieve our mission of halving violence against women and girls in a decade. That's exactly why we are taking action to ensure there are robust safeguards across the system, including by clamping down on foreign criminals who commit heinous crimes like sex offences," said Jess Philips, UK's Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Minister.
The Home Office said the new law comes alongside stronger measures to cut the asylum backlog and save taxpayer money, by giving the tribunals a new target to reduce the time they take to consider appeals from asylum seekers in accommodation, as well as rolling out artificial intelligence (AI) across asylum processing to speed up decision making.
The new bill will also introduce tougher measures to weed out people who pose as immigration lawyers or advisers, by offering so-called "advice" to migrants on how to claim asylum in the UK and lodge fraudulent claims.
The Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) will get expanded powers to hit these crooks with fines of up to GBP 15,000, the Home Office said.
Officials claimed more than 24,000 people with no right to be in the UK have been returned since last July, including a 16 per cent increase in removals of foreign criminals, and asylum decision-making up 52 per cent in the last three months of 2024.
Alongside these measures, the Home Office said AI will be deployed to support caseworkers to make swifter decisions on asylum claims - preventing asylum seekers from being "stuck in limbo at the taxpayers' expense", delivering quicker answers to those in need and removal of those with no right to be here.
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