Migrants face prison and rapid deportation under tough new UK laws

Police to be given the power to lock up those entering illegally instead of sending them to hotels or detention centres

UK Border Force officers bring a group of migrants into port after they crossed the English Channel in a small boat. AP 

Migrants who enter Britain by small boats face being locked up and rapidly deported under a crackdown to be announced this week by ministers.

Strict new laws will make it a criminal offence for asylum seekers to enter Britain without permission but it is understood the legislation will open up avenues for asylum seekers to register a claim from outside the UK - something that is not currently possible.

The changes will give police the power to lock up entrants who do not arrive through an airport, ferry terminal or train station after charging them, instead of sending them to hotels or detention centres while their asylum claims are processed.

More than 8,000 asylum seekers made the hazardous crossing of the English Channel last year, but the authorities hope that tough new immigration laws will deter others.

In addition, the jail term for those entering the country 'illegally' will be increased from six months to four years.

The new measures form part of the Nationality and Borders Bill that is to be introduced in Parliament on Tuesday. Currently, if migrants are assisted by the UK Border Force ship, which regularly picks up small boats, they do not face a criminal prosecution.

The legislation has been driven by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel who hopes the stricter laws will make asylum seekers reconsider the 33-kilometre trip across the stretch of water between Britain and mainland Europe. It will also potentially curb people smugglers who make huge sums from sending migrants across the Channel. The new laws will mean human traffickers facing a maximum life sentence instead of 14 years.

Ms Patel, 49, herself the daughter of migrants, has said she wants people to use safe and legal routes for getting to Britain that are being created by the government. She has called for strong action to “fix the UK’s broken asylum system”.

It will now be a criminal offence for those “arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance [or electronic travel authorisation] where required” and allow the prosecution of people intercepted in British territorial waters who do not technically enter the country.

About 3,500 migrants have arrived in Britain so far this year, largely coming from European countries deemed safe, such as France, where the British authorities argue they could have already claimed asylum.

It is understood that the legislation will also include steps to set up an offshore immigration processing centre for asylum seekers, potentially in Denmark, which passed its own law this month to process asylum seekers outside Europe, possibly in a detention centre in Rwanda.

On Saturday, 43 migrants drowned off Tunisia while trying to travel from Libya to Italy. A further 84 were rescued by the Tunisian navy.