UK's Priti Patel backs down on 'inhuman' refugee pushback policy ahead of High Court challenge
UK's Priti Patel backs down on 'inhuman' refugee pushback policy ahead of High Court challenge
The UK has withdrawn a 'refugee pushback' policy, which entailed encouraging Border Force to redirect dinghies in British waters to France, after facing legal complications.
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The UK government planned to force refugees trying to cross the English Channel back to the sea [BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty]
The UK government officially withdrew "refugee pushback" policyÌýdays before itÌýwas due to be examined in the High Court.
The government’s legal department said on Sunday that the plan to force in dinghies back to France had been abandoned.
The plannedÌýpolicy, which came from theÌý, encouraged the British Border Force to stop dinghies in UK waters and try to redirect themÌýto France.
The withdrawal comes after a legal challenge by a group of refugee rights organisations -ÌýÌýPCS Union, which represents Home Office workers, Care4Calais, Channel Rescue and Freedom from Torture.
They statedÌýthat the UK Border Force has no legal power to carry out the pushback tactic.
Government lawyers toldÌýthe Ministry of Defence Joint Commander of Channel operations in a letter to the Administrative Court that it "has not had permission to authorise the use of turnaround tactics".
However, if Patel decides to use turnaround tactics in the future it would be in the case ofÌý"the evolving nature of the small boats threat, migrant behaviour and organised criminal activity" being fully considered and under guidelines of operational procedures, the letter added.
Patel still refused to say the pushback policy was off the table, telling reporters while returning from a visit to Rwanda: “We rule nothing out, we can't rule anything out. I have always said. I get exhausted from saying it we have to keep all options on the table."
Patel has been widely criticised for her latest policy of sending refugees to the UK to Rwanda while their asylum cases are processed.
ÌýShadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock welcomed Patel's stepback on the pushback tactic.
"The Home Secretary’s pushback policy was always completely unworkable, but she refused to listen to Border Force, her French counterparts, her Ministry of Defence colleagues and even her own lawyers. This is a humiliating climbdown," he said.
"Priti Patel’s Home Office is a complete disaster, more concerned with chasing headlines than with the common sense solutions we need."
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