Law change needed to send migrants in UK back to Turkey under new deal, Refugee Council says

Ministers will have to change the law to put into practice any returns agreement for Turkish asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats, i understands.

The two countries are believed to be close to signing an Albania-style deal that would see Turks returned to their home country if they make the crossing having agreed an intelligence sharing agreement on Wednesday.

The Government is targeting a returns deal with Turkey after seeing Albanian arrivals plummet after striking such an agreement with the Balkan country.

Home Office figures released on Monday showed Turks were currently the second most common nationality among small boats arrivals, with 1,359 coming to the UK since the start of April this year – second only to Afghans.

However, asylum policy expert Jon Featonby, of the Refugee Council, warned that a returns deal would not work under the current terms of the Illegal Migration Act because Turkey is not currently included in a list of safe home countries that asylum seekers can be sent back to, unlike Albania.

This means ministers would need to change the law to include Turkey on the list, which could lead to parliamentary opposition or legal challenges over whether it is a safe country due to the high rate of asylum claims granted to its nationals.

Mr Featonby tweeted: “The next small boats announcement seems to include a returns agreement with Turkey that will be useless once the Illegal Migration Act comes into force as under that legislation a Turkish national who claims asylum can’t be removed to Turkey.”

A Home Office source emphasised that the UK and Turkey “are close strategic partners” and the deal to return asylum seekers would be in line with international law.

It came as Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick disputed the suggestion that the UK is “playing catch-up” after losing arrangements with other European countries to return failed asylum seekers after Brexit.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about arrangements in the Turkey partnership, Mr Jenrick said: “We are working closely as bilateral partners with Turkey on the return of Turkish nationals and we are putting in place arrangements to streamline that process to make it faster and simpler.”

Asked if the Government is “just playing catch-up” after losing similar arrangements with European countries, he said: “No, I dispute that.

“The Dublin arrangement which you are referring to didn’t work well. In fact, in their last years of operation, more individuals were brought from the continent to the UK than were sent in the other direction, so the arrangement wasn’t working well.”

He also stressed: “Turkey’s geopolitical position on the cusp of Europe and Asia, with the biggest and the most utilised land border… means that it is absolutely critical that we work with them to share intelligence, to share people and technology to keep both countries safer and to disrupt the flow of illegal migrants.”