Asylum seekers could be imprisoned under new UK government bill

Refugee rights groups have said that the planned laws of the UK government, ostensibly designed to tackle people smuggling, are targeting asylum seekers.
It has been revealed that migrants who do not cooperate with British authorities could be jailed for up to five years.
A human rights assessment of the Border Security, Asylum and Migration plan shows that some parents who bring their children to the UK in small boats could also face prosecution, which could ultimately separate their families.
The bill, which has just been introduced in the British parliament, would also allow people who smuggle migrants into the UK to be jailed for up to 14 years, and would strengthen the powers of the British police to seize laptops, financial assets and mobile phones from those people.
Refugee groups have criticised the bill, saying it would target some legitimate asylum seekers.
Human rights campaigners and advocates have expressed concern that the bill would retain some of the hardline powers introduced by the Conservative government. These hardline powers would make it harder for people to prove they are victims of modern slavery and would increase the power to impose limits on the number of people allowed to enter the UK through safe and legal routes.
Anwar Suleiman, chief executive of the British Refugee Council, said: “We are deeply concerned that by creating new offences, many of our own asylum seekers could also be prosecuted; It has happened before in some cases; this would be a gross miscarriage of justice.