LONDON: The British government is facing a legal challenge against its policy of prosecuting asylum seekers who sail across the English Channel under smuggling laws.
Immigration Enforcement has brought in 67 successful prosecutions related to the operation of small boats since the beginning of 2020.
However, after court challenges earlier this year, the Crown Prosecution Service issued new guidance saying that passengers – including boaters – were potentially vulnerable asylum seekers who should not be prosecuted. .
Despite this guidance, prosecution is ongoing, The Guardian reported, and lawyers for several persons jailed for trafficking will put their cases in the Court of Appeals on Tuesday.
Lawyers would argue that the individuals were attempting to be rescued at sea so that they could claim asylum.
Claire Moseley, director of the refugee charity Care for Calais, which has provided evidence for the recent hearing, told The Observer, the sister newspaper of The Guardian, that the people plying the boat were not criminals who were making money from the crossing.
“Some migrants row boats to get a place on it because they cannot pay a smuggler. These people are victims of conflict, torture and persecution, they are not criminals,” Moseley said. “People in Calais tell us they have to take their phones so they can call the Coast Guard or Border Force by boat; These people are happy to meet the authorities – their whole intention is to claim asylum.”
The appeal began with a case in May 2021, when Iranian Fouad Kakei, after spending 17 months in prison, reversed a trafficking conviction in a trial. He told British officials that he had steered the boat to save it from sinking.
The Crown Prosecution Service issued new guidance on English Channel crossing prosecution after overturning Kakai’s decision.
“Identifying migrants and asylum seekers often have no choice but to address how they travel and face exploitation by organized crime groups, prompting prosecutors to consider … only… Public interest factors in charging those who enter illegally … passengers of boats and other vehicles should not be prosecuted unless they are repeat offenders or have previously been deported,” the guidance said. gave advice.
Prosecutions are still proceeding despite the new guidance, and last week a 36-year-old man was jailed for two and a half years for scuttling a boat with 25 people across the English Channel.
Earlier this year, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government would “ruthlessly toughen the punishment for any person who is involved in such people-trafficking and human trafficking across the Channel.”
Britain’s Minister of Justice and Combatting Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglow, said the small boat pilots put the lives of everyone in the boat “in mortal danger and it is right that we stop further efforts to bring them to justice”. Huh.”
“Our new plan for immigration will help prevent these dangerous crossings by introducing stricter penalties for those who put people’s lives at risk by facilitating illegal immigration,” he said.
The Nationality and Borders Bill, which has been touted as the cornerstone of the government’s new immigration plan, was reviewed in parliament last week.
The bill could make it easier to prosecute people crossing the Channel, as well as increase the life sentence for the offense of aiding illegal immigration.
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