Part 2: Asylum Chapter 8: Removal to safe third country Section 29: Removal of asylum seeker to safe country
Overview: This section and Schedule 4 make amendments to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 ("the 2002 Act") and the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 (the "2004 Act") in relation to the removal of asylum seekers, and those individuals who have had their asylum claim refused, to safe third countries. This includes provision for the removal of asylum seekers from the UK, provided such removal is in accordance with the UK’s international obligations. It also creates a new rebuttable presumption that certain specified countries are compliant with their obligations under the 1950 European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to the extent that an individual’s Convention rights under Article 3 (no torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) would be respected upon an individual’s return to these specified countries.
	Background: Section 77 of the 2002 Act prevents the removal of an asylum seeker from the UK while their asylum claim is pending. While the UK was a member of the EU and until the end of the Transition Period (11pm on 31 December 2020), this operated alongside the Dublin Regulations, which permitted removal of asylum seekers who had already made protection claims to safe third countries that were EU Member States and managed the UK’s asylum intake.
	This section and Schedule 4, by amending section 77 of the 2002 Act, makes it possible to remove someone to a safe third country while their asylum claim is pending without having to issue a certificate under Schedule 3 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004. This supports the future object of enabling asylum claims to be processed outside the UK and in another country. The purpose of such a model is to manage the UK’s asylum intake and deter irregular migration and clandestine entry to the UK.
	The UK Government is committed to upholding its international obligations under the Refugee Convention and the ECHR; therefore, any such removal of asylum seekers will be considered in line with these obligations. One of the core principles of the Refugee Convention is non-refoulement, which provides that a state must not expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (see Article 33(1)). Under Article 3 of the ECHR, no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This places an absolute bar on removing an individual from the UK where there are substantial grounds to believe that there is a real risk that the individual would experience such treatment in the country to which they are being removed.
	Schedule 3 of the 2004 Act is amended to include a rebuttable presumption that certain countries specified in Schedule 3 of the 2004 Act are safe. "Safe" in this context means that an individual does not face a risk that their rights under Article 3 of the ECHR will be breached and that they will not be sent onwards to another country in contravention of their ECHR rights. In some instances, individuals who have had their asylum claim refused and are facing removal from the UK, try to frustrate their removal from the UK by claiming that their Article 3 rights may be breached in the country to which they are being removed. This can include where the removal is to countries which the UK considers to be safe. EU member states, for example, are countries which the UK considers, due to the constitutional and administrative structures of the European Union, are highly likely to be compliant with their ECHR obligations and therefore safe for the purpose of removing an individual whose claim for asylum has failed. The presumption will only be overturned where an individual can provide evidence that there is a real risk that their Article 3 rights will be breached upon removal to the safe country.
	This section and Schedule 4 also amend an existing power which allows the Secretary of State to add countries to the list of safe countries specified in paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to the 2004 Act so that the Secretary of State can also remove countries from the list of safe countries in paragraph 2.
	The Section and Schedule 4 also clarify that there is no right of appeal in reliance on an asylum claim which asserts that to remove the person to a safe country would breach the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention. They also remove rights of appeal for human rights claims brought against removal to the safe country which are declared clearly unfounded in line with the amendments to section 94 of the 2002 Act.