n March, the British home secretary, Priti Patel, revealed new immigration rules that those seeking refugee status protection in the UK must do so using a ‘legal resettlement’ path - such as the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme - in order to gain indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Meanwhile, those that pay smugglers to enter the UK can only attain temporary permission to remain and will be regularly assessed for deportation from the UK.
A key issue with the proposed plan is that the UK is party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which prohibits countries from penalizing persons who seek asylum in a country through unofficial points of entry.
