Migration

(Return to the manifesto)

1. It is essential, for reasons of national security and effective policing, that nobody crosses into or out of the UK without inspection by Border Force.
2. Nobody shall be denied passage into or out of the country unless a lawful arrest is executed at the border. Everybody flagged for arrest by any recognized enforcement agency shall be detained.
   • Those with an existing right of residence in the UK who are not flagged for arrest will be allowed across the border.
   • All foreign nationals and stateless persons making a valid asylum claim when arriving at the border will have their claim registered immediately. The claims shall be expeditiously handled and, at need, the applicant shall be provided for throughout the asylum process.
   • All people entering the UK without right of residence will be told the maximum duration allowed for their visit, determined by applicable international treaty or visa conditions. They will also be warned that exceeding the maximum duration is an efficiently enforced arrestable offence.
3. We will legislate that nobody within the homeland will ever be refused NHS treatment for acute conditions. We will do this because to refuse health treatment to anyone at need – citizen or visitor – is invariably a national disgrace.
4. Refugees are people seeking refuge abroad from circumstances they find intolerable. We already know that in the coming decades, the fallout from climate change will increase the number of refugees significantly. We need to plan on that basis. Refugees should be helped, not hindered. To become a refugee is an self-declared action, not a status allowed only by official recognition. The Home Office currently operates, under government instruction, a "hostile environment". Under our instruction, the Home Office will strive continuously to help refugees achieve their goals rather than hinder them.
5. Migrants are people moving their residence from one country to another. All international refugees are migrants; not all migrants are refugees.
6. Asylum seekers are refugees fleeing persecution which threatens their lives or well-being, whether the threat comes from their government or their culture. Fleeing arrest for acts which would result in similar consequences had they happened in this country would not warrant asylum or protect a refugee from extradition.
7. We note that refugee entry into the UK is currently deliberately hindered by government policy; that refugee camps have consequently built up on the French side of the Channel; and that many migrants are crossing at risk of their lives in small boats. We shall open offices near such camps and provide free immediate ferry passage to all refugees on application. The small boat trade will consequently stop, and all refugees will arrive at legitimate border force entry points for inspection and documentation. Simply being a refugee is not a ground for being refused entry into the country.
8. We shall expunge all convictions under the Illegal Migration Bill, which prevent foreign nationals from entry into the UK. The BBC notes that "the government's 'safe and legal' routes are only available to certain groups of people who have already been recognised as refugees, or family members of refugees already in the UK", which is why the small boats problem came into being in the first place.