She added that if the current proposals were not amended, the resulting law would “penalize people who enter the UK by irregular means as if they were criminals.” 

Any such development would contravene international law and standards and separate asylum seekers arriving in the UK “into two tiers, violating the right of each person to an individual assessment of their own protection needs,” the High Commissioner insisted. 

Nationality stripped 

In a statement the High Commissioner also warned that “the Bill as originally formulated would allow for British nationals to be deprived of their UK citizenship without notice and in an arbitrary manner, risking increased Statelessness.” 

Ms. Bachelet also highlighted how the proposal “to broadly criminalize those who facilitate irregular migration could punish and deter people from rescuing migrants in distress at sea, potentially resulting in dire consequences, including more tragic loss of life in the Channel.” 

Critics of the UK Government-led reform have expressed concern that the proposals make it easier to prosecute asylum seekers before they have a chance to claim asylum. And they have condemned a scheme to set up offshore processing centres for those seeking international protection in the UK. 

“The proposed offshore processing centres would expose asylum seekers to real risks of forced transfers, extended periods of isolation and deprivation of liberty, violating their human rights and dignity,” Ms. Bachelet insisted. 

In 2021, asylum applications to the UK reached 48,540, according to the UK House of Commons Library.