This seminar analyses asylum in the UK at a critical political and legal juncture.

Following the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, Illegal Migration Act 2023, and Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024, the ‘new’ Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced an end to the UK’s migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda and new legislation.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is likely to include measures allowing ‘fast-track decisions and returns to safe countries’ and ‘stronger powers to disrupt, investigate and prosecute organised criminals facilitating organised immigration crime.’

Our expert panel will analyse these developments, considering access to asylum, the impact of the AAA [2023] UKSC 42 litigation, the relationships between non-refoulement, non-penalisation, and non-discrimination, and the UK’s role in upholding international law.

We end by considering what taking a progressive, rights-protective, approach to protection in the UK could and should involve.