For years, talk of sending asylum seekers to offshore facilities was seen as fringe in the United Kingdom.
But Home Secretary Priti Patel is pushing forward with legislation next week that would permit the U.K. to send refugees and migrants abroad for processing — a move similar to a law that Denmark passed in early June allowing it to send asylum seekers outside Europe while their applications are reviewed.
The UK government is set to introduce new laws which will enable it to send asylum seekers abroad to have their claims dealt with offshore. Critics have called the proposal "cruel" and "inhumane".
The British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, will introduce a new Nationality and Borders Bill into Parliament next week. The new law includes plans to create a center to process asylum claims outside the UK.
According to the Times newspaper, Britain has been discussing the plan with Denmark, which passed a similar law earlier this month to process asylum seekers outside Europe. The Times reported on Sunday (June 27) that Patel was in talks with her Danish counterparts over sharing a processing center in Africa. A report in the Mirror said the prime minister’s official spokesperson had denied such talks were underway.
Greece's decision to consider Turkey a safe third country is "unacceptable," 38 humanitarian organizations have argued in a letter to the Greek government and the European Union. Greece recently declared Turkey safe for asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Considering Turkey a safe third country "endangers refugees", the 38 humanitarian organizations wrote in a letter addressed to the Greek government and the European Union on Tuesday, June 15.
The letter demanded that "the decision to designate Turkey a 'safe third country' should be immediately revoked."
