LONDON: Hundreds of people arriving on the English coast in small boats are being immediately detained in immigration removal centers, raising fears that the Home Office has launched a new policy to deport migrants without fully assessing asylum claims.
Detainees include victims of trafficking and torture from war-torn countries where Britain has fought, such as Afghanistan and Iraq.
Usually, migrants from these backgrounds are offered accommodation while their asylum claims are processed, but now they face immediate imprisonment and possible deportation.
Lawyers have accused the Home Office of incorrectly age-assessing children as adults, sending them directly to immigration removal centers.
Campaigners said several asylum seekers have been denied access to lawyers, describing the development as “not the act of a civilized and compassionate nation.”
Toufique Hossain, director of public law and immigration at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, described the new nationality and borders bill as a “grave abuse of power.”
He added: “They have effectively started bypassing the asylum system and saying to individuals with strong claims that their claim is weak, that they may not get an appeal and that they intend to remove them quickly.
“The whole starting point is to disbelieve people arriving from places where the Home Office knows individuals have a well-founded fear of harm and persecution.”
Detention centers have been rapidly filling following the suspected shift in policy, with Tom Nunn of Duncan Lewis saying they are “being filled with people who have just arrived but who are not being released into the community.”
He added that his law firm was aware of Iraqis and Afghans who bore signs of torture, but whom the Home Office had apparently sent to detention centers in breach of the legal asylum and detention process.
“There have been a few cases where medical advice from doctors in the immigration center is that they are victims of torture,” said Nunn.
“But we are seeing a lot of cases where the Home Office is pushing back on this, basically saying, ‘You’re a victim of torture but we believe we can remove you quickly and therefore we’ll keep you in detention’.”
This latest development follows policy changes by the Home Office last year, when it secretly shortened asylum screening interviews for arrivals in the UK.
This change meant that torture and trafficking victims are facing deportation much faster than under previous policies.
Asylum seekers being immediately detained in UK
https://arab.news/zzrzb
Asylum seekers being immediately detained in UK
- Lawyers say they include Iraqis, Afghanis bearing signs of torture
- Fears that Home Office has launched new policy to deport migrants without fully assessing asylum claims
Tarique Rahman-led BNP set to form Bangladesh’s next government after major election win
- Jamaat-e-Islami, banned during Hasina’s government, won 68 seats
- Majority of Bangladeshis endorsed sweeping reforms in national referendum
DHAKA: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, is set to form the country’s next government after securing a more than two-thirds majority in the first elections since a student-led uprising in 2024 ousted ex-prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
The BNP has won at least 209 seats out of the 299 contested, according to the latest election results released by the Election Commission on Friday, paving the way for Rahman to become the country’s next prime minister.
Jamaat-e-Islami, banned during Hasina’s 15 years in power, has registered its best performance yet, winning at least 68 seats and emerging as the main opposition party.
The National Citizen Party, which was born out of the 2024 protests, was in third place with six seats, including for its leader Nahid Islam, while Hasina’s Awami League was barred from participating in the elections.
The majority of Bangladeshis also reportedly voted “yes” in a national referendum on the “July National Charter” that was held alongside the general vote on Thursday.
Named after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, the charter is aimed at achieving sweeping democratic reforms to prevent authoritarian administrations, including term limits for premiers, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence, while also proposing increased representation of women in parliament.
The BNP-led government is likely to follow the commitments made under the charter, said Prof. A.S.M. Amanullah, vice chancellor of the National University in Dhaka, adding that the implementation of the July charter was also included in the party’s election manifesto that covers reform of the state and rebuilding of the economy.
“Mr. Tarique Rahman is a highly trained politician, highly sensitive politician, and he takes decisions based on facts. I believe he prepared himself to run this country locally and play a role internationally,” Amanullah told Arab News.
Rahman is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman. He returned to Bangladesh late last year after nearly two decades of self-imposed exile in the UK, and assumed BNP’s leadership days later, following his mother’s death from a prolonged illness.
In an interview with Arab News earlier this week, the 60-year-old pledged to pursue accountability for the former leadership and meet the political and economic expectations of the youth movement that brought about the change.
The new government is likely to be a mix of young and old politicians, Amanullah said, with Jemaat-e-Islami set to balance out the BNP’s rule.
“This is a very good size of opposition to press the issues or to challenge the government on different issues, different policies and decisions of the government. I’m hopeful about Jemaat,” he said.
“The way the people voted for these major two parties, the BNP and Jemaat, I think if they could work jointly, Bangladesh should see a stable political situation in the near future.”
Mohiuddin Ahmad, a political analyst and researcher, described Jemaat-e-Islami as “the most organized party” in Bangladesh and that it would therefore play an “instrumental” role as the opposition party.
Voter turnout averaged 59.44 percent, the EC said, with many Bangladeshis considering this week’s vote as their first “free and fair” election after more than 17 years.
“Such a result of an election we haven’t actually experienced before,” Muhiuddin Iqbal, a history student at Dhaka University, told Arab News.
“The festive feeling has not gone yet, so we’re very much excited about it and hopeful for the future.”
