Member

None of the criminal offences in this Bill and the Nationality and Borders Act ensures that refugees receive protection, immunity from penalties and effective access to their entitlements under the 1951 refugee convention and its 1967 protocol, by which the UK voluntarily agreed to be bound without reservation. As the noble Baroness, Lady Chakrabarti, said, Article 31.1 of the refugee convention protects refugees from penalties on account of their illegal entry or presence, if they come directly from a country persecuting them and if they present themselves to the authorities without delay and show good cause for their unlawful entry or presence. That applies to a multitude of people who come here. This immunity is provided in recognition that those fleeing persecution are often compelled to arrive, enter and be present in a state irregularly. That needs recognising when we discuss measures that turn refugees into criminals.