Following the passing through the Lords and Commons of the Government’s Refugee Ban Bill, our Chief Executive Tim Naor Hilton, said:

“Our thoughts are with the people seeking asylum and refugees who are in the UK or yet to arrive here who will be targeted and victimised by this extreme law.

“It chills us to the bone that the Government wants to imprison and deport thousands of people including families with children and remove people’s rights on a whim.

“These laws tear up our part in the international system of protection that were put in place shortly after the horrors of the Second World War.

“They give the Home Secretary the power to single handedly contravene the rule of law and breach the rights of people seeking safety.

“Deterrence policies will never work because a minority of people fleeing war and persecution around the world will always want to come to the UK to seek safety.

“Instead, these laws will cause misery to refugees, cost billions to taxpayers and force people into the margins of society where they will be homeless, destitute and vulnerable to criminal gangs and modern slavery.

“There’s a deep and glaring racism at the heart of the Government’s refugee policy that shuts and then locks the door on refugees from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

“We do not have to live in a deeply racist and divisive world. Another system is possible, where people have rights in a fair and workable asylum system and the UK is strengthened with inclusive and forward-thinking policies.

“The fight against the Government’s cruel, unworkable and unlawful anti-refugee laws does not stop here and the roll out of this Act will be met with resistance every step of the way.

“It’s time for a fair and workable refugee policy that’s designed to keep people safe rather than keep people out.”