Labour have been accused of “criminalising” refugees after the government launched a fresh crackdown on small boat crossings.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper published a Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill repealing most of the measures introduced by the last Tory government to deal with the issue.
That includes officially killing off the Rwanda plan, which aimed to deport illegal immigrants to east Africa.
More than 1,000 migrants have already made the perilous journey across the English Channel this year, which is on top of the 36,816 who came to the UK last year.
The government says it will use anti-terror tactics to “smash” the people smuggling gangs responsible for putting migrants on the boats in France.
But refugee charities said the bill could end up making the problem worse.
One measure would see asylum seekers who refuse to stop for the French authorities jailed for up to five years.
Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “We are very concerned that by creating new offences, many refugees themselves could also be prosecuted, which has already been happening in some cases. This would be a gross miscarriage of justice.
“Criminalising men, women and children who have fled conflicts in countries such as Sudan does not disrupt the smuggling gangs’ business model.
“When a refugee is clambering into a boat with an armed criminal threatening them, they are not thinking about UK laws but are simply trying to stay alive.”
Natasha Tsangarides, associate director of advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said: “This bill will do nothing to address the root causes of forced displacement. Instead, cracking down on the methods refugees use to escape war and persecution will only make their journeys more dangerous.
“We fear that the government’s current approach, directed through the frame of counter-terrorism, risks intensifying the vulnerability of those who are forced to rely on smugglers in the absence of safe routes.
“If the government truly wants to address the challenges posed by the movement of refugees across borders, then it would be better directed towards stopping the torture that pushes people from their homes in the first place.”
Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive ofRefugee Action, said: “Framing migration as a ‘national security’ issue to use counter terrorism-style laws will irreparably harm refugees, many of them children, and stoke divisions as we have seen in last summer’s racist riots.
“Most people who seek asylum here are racially minoritised and legislation aimed at deterring, detaining and criminalising them perpetuates racial injustice both in our systems and on our streets.”
Other measures contained in the bill would see people selling and handling boat parts suspected of being used in migrant Channel crossings facing up to 14 years in prison.
Yvette Cooper said: “This bill will equip our law enforcement agencies with the powers they need to stop these vile criminals, disrupting their supply chains and bringing more of those who profit from human misery to justice.
“These new counter-terror style powers … will turbocharge efforts to smash the gangs.”
Meanwhile, controversial measures introduced by the Tories to prevent asylum seekers from claiming they are the victims of modern slavery will be kept in place, despite Labour criticising the policy while in opposition.
In March 2023, Keir Starmer said in the Commons: “On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the successes of women in our society.
“It’s a crying shame that as we do so we face legislation which drives a coach and horses through our world-leading modern slavery framework, which protects women from exploitation.”
Jakub Sobik from the Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre, said: “Simply put, the modern slavery measures in recent immigration legislation risk increasing trafficking and modern slavery in the UK.
“If implemented, they would deny potentially thousands of people protection from trafficking and would strengthen the hand of traffickers, as well as the UK’s ability to prosecute traffickers.
“The government should bring back protections for modern slavery survivors as soon as possible not only to align them with international law, but also to enable the UK to more effectively deal with trafficking.”