Lawmakers say UK’s planned law to deport Channel migrants breaches rights obligations

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A committee of lawmakers say Britain will break its international human rights commitments if it goes through with government plans to detain and deport people who reach the U.K. in small boats. Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights said Sunday that the Illegal Migration Bill “breaches a number of the U.K.’s international human rights obligations and risks breaching others.” The legislation bars asylum claims by anyone who reaches the U.K. by unauthorized means, and compels officials to detain and then deport them to their home country or a safe third country. Britain’s Conservative government says the law will deter tens of thousands of people from making perilous journeys across the Channel. But critics say the legislation is unethical and unworkable.