Template Letter Against the Illegal Migration Bill

Below is a template letter that you can send to your MP to raise your concerns about the impacts of the Illegal Migration Bill. You can find your MP here. 

Dear [MP name]

I am writing to you as one of your constituents to express my grave concerns about the implications of the Illegal Migration Bill. Outlawing people from accessing asylum in the UK where they have not arrived through state-endorsed routes, this Bill would act as a ban on asylum, punishing people when it should be protecting them.

The Bill would:

• Make those who arrive in the UK in small boats automatically ‘inadmissible’ to the UK asylum system,
• Dramatically increase the number of people in detention and facing deportation,
• Ignore and infringe certain human rights, modern slavery and protection claims,
• Break the UK commitment to the UN Refugee Convention and ECHR.

For most people seeking safety, there are no safe and legal routes to the UK. Instead, they must travel over land and sea to reach UK shores. A majority submit successful asylum applications. This legislation would outlaw them from claiming asylum here, making them inadmissible to the UK asylum system and putting them at risk of detention and deportation.

This policy is intended as a deterrent to people seeking safety in the UK. Deterrence does not stop the need for asylum. Without agreements with third-safe countries, the UK is en route to a mammoth expansion of its detention estate, a move more likely to line the pockets of Mears, Serco and G4S than deter people from seeking sanctuary.

This pushes Britain into becoming a pariah state, turning its back on the 70-year-old international human rights commitments of 196 states to provide protection to people seeking sanctuary. If the policy is enforced, it will likely lead to the mass demonisation, detention, and deportation of people who are fleeing war, persecution and torture.

The harmful rhetoric that suggests that billions of people are likely to claim asylum here omits that 86% of people claiming asylum do so in their neighbouring country and that the UK is home to less than 1% of the world’s refugees. I am calling on you to: 

• Stop this Bill by voting against it. This Bill is completely unworkable, inhumane, and likely unlawful. We ask for a complete reformulation of the asylum system, based on humanity, compassion, and human rights.
• Safeguard the UK’s commitment to international human rights legislation. These agreements were created to ensure no state abused its powers. We cannot lose them when we need them most.
• Fight for an immigration system that ensures those seeking safety are heard and protected from further harm in the UK. This includes the right to work, adequate housing and access to recourse to public funds. 

I await your reply.

Yours Sincerely,

[Your Name]