Migrants convicted of sexual offences will be banned from claiming asylum in the UK under a change to the law aimed at improving border security.
Under the Refugee Convention, countries are able to refuse asylum to those who have committed “particularly serious” crimes and are a danger to the community, with the provision currently used to block claims from criminals handed prison sentences longer than one year.
Sir Keir Starmer’s crackdown will extend the provision to include anyone convicted of a crime which places them on the sex offenders register, regardless of the length of their sentence.
Home Office sources said the change could have prevented the Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi from being granted asylum despite convictions for sex offences in 2018. But officials repeatedly refused to give an estimate of how many migrants would be affected by the changes.
The new measure will be introduced in an amendment to the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently going through Parliament, the Home Office said.
It is hoped the move will send a clear message that sex offences are treated with the “seriousness they deserve”.
The crackdown will also see ministers set a 24-week target for first-tier immigration tribunals to decide on appeals of those living in asylum seeker-supported accommodation, or who are foreign national offenders, in a bid to cut the asylum backlog.
However, on Tuesday Yvette Cooper admitted that “other obstacles” could still be in the way of returning failed asylum seekers but said they are “working so hard to…remove those”.
Asked whether sex offenders could be stopped from using the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to appeal against their removal, the home secretary told Times Radio: “Of course, there are often other obstacles that are put in the way of different kinds of returns and removals, but that’s why we’re working so hard to seek to remove those.
“But the first step is to remove somebody’s entitlement to asylum protection in the first place if they have committed these serious crimes.”
It comes hours after Sir Keir conceded that Thursday’s local elections will be “tough” for Labour. Nigel Farage’s Reform party has opened a consistent lead in the polls and has relentlessly attacked Labour as soft on migration.
But Yvette Cooper said Labour is “changing the law to help clear the backlog, end the use of asylum hotels and save billions of pounds for the taxpayer”.
The home secretary said: “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.
“Nor should asylum seekers be stuck in hotels at the taxpayers’ expense during lengthy legal battles.”
The Conservatives said the changes were “too little, too late”. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “Foreign criminals pose a danger to British citizens and must be removed, but so often this is frustrated by spurious legal claims based on human rights claims, not asylum claims.
“The Conservatives had already tabled tough, clear reforms to remove all foreign criminals and to disapply the Human Rights Act, so activists and lawyers cannot block deportations. But Labour voted against our measures.”
The amendments to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill come ahead of a wider crackdown on migration expected in response to a triumphant night for Reform on Thursday.
Within weeks, ministers will publish a white paper detailing plans to slash migration by making it harder for foreign students to remain in Britain and banning employment law-breaking employers hiring from abroad.
One of Labour’s key election pledges was also to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said: “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.”
The Home Office also announced that artificial intelligence will be used to support caseworkers processing asylum claims, such as by summarising interview transcripts and accessing other countries’ advice.
Using the technology could save caseworkers up to an hour per case, according to the department.
The moves come as the government intends the immigration bill to introduce a range of measures to crack down on people smuggling across the English Channel and reform the asylum system.
These include scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, introducing new criminal offences and handing counterterror-style powers to police and enforcement agencies to tackle the crossings.
The Home Office has also announced plans for the legislation to crack down on people posing as immigration lawyers by giving the Immigration Advice Authority powers to fine those not properly registered up to £15,000.
