‘If you come to UK illegally…’: Rishi Sunak unveils law to stop Channel migrants

The UK government said that it was ready for human-rights legal challenges to a tough new law intended to stop tens of thousands of migrants a year reaching the country in small boats across the English Channel.

British prime Minister Rishi Sunak Tuesday announced a new plan to put a halt on tens of thousands of migrants reaching the country in small boats across the English Channel- an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. Issuing a warning, he said that those who enter UK illegally will not be allowed to claim asylum.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference in the Downing Street Briefing Room in central London, following the announcement of the on the Illegal Migration Bill. (AFP)

"If you come here illegally, you can't claim asylum. You can't benefit from our modern slavery protections. You can't make spurious human rights claims and you can't stay," Sunak said in a tweet.

“We will detain those who come here illegally and then remove them in weeks, either to their own country if it is safe to do so. Or to a Safe Third Country like Rwanda and once you are removed, you will be banned as you are in America and Australia from ever re-entering our country,” he added.

The bill calls for people arriving by boat to be detained for 28 days and then deported, with exceptions only for children, those medically unfit to fly and people at risk of serious harm, and with limited grounds for appeal. Migrants who are victims of human trafficking would be barred from using Britain's modern slavery laws to prevent deportation.

Britain receives fewer asylum-seekers than some European nations such as Italy, Germany or France. But thousands of migrants from around the world travel to northern France each year in hopes of reaching the U.K., drawn by family ties, the English language or the perceived ease of getting a job.

Rights groups and opposition parties have criticised the new law and say that the plan is unworkable and unfairly scapegoats vulnerable refugees.

More than 45,000 people arrived in Britain by boat in 2022, up from 28,000 in 2021 and 8,500 in 2020, news agency AP reported.