Externalisation of Asylum Policy in the UK after Brexit

Abstract

The article explores the approaches and tools the UK disposes of to address an increasing number of asylum seekers and illegal migrants in a post-Brexit environment. The study is based on legislative and regulatory acts regulating the UK’s asylum policy, as well as international agreements and action plans that enable the externalization of the asylum policy. It is shown that it took the UK a rather short time to put in place a reformed legal framework to incorporate the most restrictive migration-related terms in Europe. The development of the concept of a “Third Safe Country” passing through which automatically places an asylum seeker onto the Unacceptable category provoked their criminalization and led to a nontransparent asylum system with virtually insurmountable barriers to entry. The externalization of the UK asylum policy was implemented through traditional readmission agreements, the number of which grew rapidly during the period under review, and through new tools, for example, the Rwandan Plan which allowed the UK to redirect refugees to Rwanda. It is concluded that despite the ambiguity of the plan it creates a legal precedent, which threatens developing countries of increased migration burden against the background of little resources to overcome migration crises.