Documenting The Criminalisation Of People Seeking Asylum In The UK

New research by Vicky Taylor and published with Border Criminologies Blog (worth checking out if you’re unfamiliar) out of the UK examines the rising number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats. This research, based on courtroom observations, argues that this situation is a manufactured crisis caused by the British government’s securitization policies.

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 introduced harsher penalties for those arriving irregularly, including life imprisonment for facilitation. The Home Office has been quiet about these changes, and prosecutions are not widely publicized. But people are charged under criminal law based on their re-entry status or if they are identified as the alleged captain of the boat.

The court proceedings lack proper defense rights, and judges often rely on government rhetoric in their sentencing justifications. The research argues that the arbitrary nature of these prosecutions and the harm caused to asylum seekers and potential victims of trafficking.

Read the post here: https://blogs.law.ox.ac.uk/border-criminologies-blog/blog-post/2023/06/evidence-courtwatching-documenting-criminalisation

Austin Kocher