The Human Rights of Asylum Seekers in the UK

Abstract

Written evidence submitted by Dr Ermioni Xanthopoulou1 and Dr Mohammad Nayyeri2 (Brunel University London). We wish to respond to the following questions as set out in the Joint Committee’s call for evidence: 1. Is it compatible with the UK’s human rights obligations to deny asylum to those who do not use what the Government calls “safe and legal routes”? 3. Is the policy of relocating asylum seekers to third countries consistent with the UK’s human rights obligations? 1 Dr Ermioni Xanthopoulou (ermioni.xanthopoulou@brunel.ac.uk) is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Brunel University London, where she is leading a research project entitled ‘Shifting Asylum Responsibilities and Human Rights: Mind the Gap!’. 2 Dr Mohammad Nayyeri (mohammad.nayyeri@brunel.ac.uk) is a Lecturer in Law in the Public and International Law Division at Brunel Law School. He has been accepted by immigration and judicial authorities in the UK and overseas as an independent expert in asylum and immigration cases. 3 Home Office’s latest datasets (Table Asy_D02) show that as of July 2022 the UKRS has resettled only 1,685 refugees. Under further schemes based on the support of family members (MRS) or local community groups (CSS) only 308 people were resettled in the UK between January 2018 and July 2022