Evidence that Priti Patel’s overhaul of asylum laws will reduce Channel migrant crossings is limited, according to the home secretary’s own department.
An impact assessment of the Nationality and Borders Bill by the Home Office says the plans could encourage migrants to take more dangerous journeys.
The document concludes that measures outlined in the bill will help to encourage migrants to claim asylum in the first country they reach in order to avoid making the dangerous 21-mile journey across the Channel. But it adds: “Evidence supporting the effectiveness of this approach is limited.”
The document raises questions over the capacity for the bill to achieve its main aim of reducing the number of people crossing in small boats.
This year 15,000 migrants have crossed the
