Britain’s parliament debates and votes for the first time on the government’s new Migration Bill.

Under the plan, adults arriving in the UK via an irregular route (ie small boats / in the back of a lorry, etc) would be denied the right to claim asylum – even if they had come from a warzone or faced persecution in countries well known for human rights abuses.

Instead, they would be sent back to “a country or territory to which there is reason to believe [they would] be admitted”, the country that they had embarked from to the UK, their country of origin, or another country where they held a passport.

Critics argue that the bill is at odds with the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory.

The UNHCR said last week it was ‘profoundly concerned’ by the new legislation which, it claimed, would deny a fair hearing and protection to many genuine refugees in need of safety and asylum.

The second reading of the bill is a debate on its main principles.

No amendments can be made to the text at this point, but at the end of the debate, a vote will be held on whether the bill proceeds to the next stage of the legislative process.

Aljazeera.