In the news

The proposed Nationality and Borders Bill:

Helping an asylum seeker enter the UK will no longer need to be “for gain” to attract criminal liability. The core of the offence will read as follows:

A person commits an offence if—
(a) he knowingly facilitates the arrival or attempted arrival in, or the entry or ?>attempted entry into, the United Kingdom of an individual, and
(b) he knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the individual is an asylum-seeker.

It depends on how one interprets “facilitates”, but removing the stipulation about gain is an odd look for a Bill that professes to target organised crime. While someone working for an organisation that “aims to assist asylum-seekers” cannot be charged with this offence, someone who works for a more general-purpose charity like the RNLI and who helps an asylum seeker enter the UK may, on the face of it, be criminalised by this change.

The maximum sentence for the general assisting unlawful immigration offence is raised to life from 14 years by clause 38.

Mind bogglin

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/the-nationality-and-borders-bill-2021-first-impressions/