The UK government will retain a ban on asylum seekers claiming protections under modern slavery as part of new legislation to tackle small boat crossings.

The Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill, introduced to parliament on 30th January, is central to Starmer’s strategy to combat smuggling gangs.  Speaking to the Interpol general assembly in November, Starmer said it was his ‘personal mission to smash the people smuggling gangs’. The bill includes a series of measures the government hopes will break the business model of smuggling gangs.  According to tracking by YouGov, immigration and asylum consistently rank as the most critical issues for voters after the economy. Additionally, 2024 saw the second-highest number of channel crossings since records began in 2018, and 36,816 people came to Britain via small boats last year, a 25% increase from 2023.

The bill includes counter-terrorism measures that will allow smugglers to be jailed for up to 14 years for handling small boat parts. It will also strengthen police powers to seize laptops, financial assets and mobile phones from smuggling suspects. The Labour Party plans to retain controversial parts of legislation passed by the Conservative government in 2023.  The legislation disqualifies asylum seekers, challenges deportation using modern slavery laws, and permits the detention of child asylum seekers for 28 days. Labour voted against Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to stop the small boats whilst in opposition and criticised the measures. At the time, Starmer said that it would ‘drive a coach and horses’ through protections for women trafficked into Britain. Jess Philips, now a Parliamentary Under-Secretary Jess, described the legislation as a ‘traffickers dream’ that would hide victims of modern slavery. 

Human rights organisations have raised concerns about the bill’s implications for modern slavery victims. Amnesty International accused Home Secretary Yvette Cooper of ‘rank hypocrisy’ for retaining parts of the Conservative’s bill, adding that the decision evidently signals that ‘disdain for human beings remains at the heart of this government’. However, The Home Office says that the bill repeals Conservative measures by banning those who enter via small boats from accessing the national referral mechanism. Those in need of help can still access it. Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Chris Philp criticised the bill as ‘weak’ and merely a renouncement of existing policies introduced by the previous government.

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