Commentary on provisions of the Act Section 2: Duty to make arrangements for removal
This section places a duty on the Secretary of State to make arrangements to remove persons to their home country or a safe third country who have entered or arrived in the UK illegally, and the conditions under which this duty will apply. The duty to make arrangements for removal is absolute, subject to the subsequent provisions of the Act as specified in subsection (11).
	Subsections (2) to (6) set out the four conditions which must be satisfied for the duty to apply to a person.
	The first condition (subsection (2)) relates to the lawfulness of a person’s entry or arrival in the UK, namely that they either: entered without leave to enter when required or where that leave to enter was obtained by deception; entered in breach of a deportation order; entered or arrived when they were an excluded person within the meaning of section 8B of the 1971 Act (that is, someone who is subject to a travel ban imposed by the United Nations or the UK); arrived without valid entry clearance when required; arrived without avalid electronic travel authorisation when required.
	The second condition (subsection (3)) specifies the duty applies to those that meet the conditions in subsection (2) and entered or arrived in the UK on or after 20 July 2023, that is the date the Act received Royal Assent.
	The third condition (subsections (4) or (5)) specifies that the duty applies to persons who did not come directly to the UK from the country in which their life and liberty was threatened by reason of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (see the definition of a refugee in Article 1 of the Refugee Convention). If a person passed through or stopped in another country where their life and liberty was not threatened, they will not be considered to have come directly to the UK.
	The fourth condition (subsection (6)) specifies the person requires leave to enter or remain but does not have it.
	Subsection (7) provides that any leave granted to unaccompanied children under the immigration rules is to be disregarded for the purposes of the condition in subsection (6).
	Subsection (11) provides that the duty to make arrangements for the removal from the UK of persons who meet the four conditions is subject only to subsequent provisions of the Act, namely:
	Section 4 which provides that the duty in section 2(1) does not require the Secretary of State to make removal arrangements for unaccompanied children until they turn 18 years old, although they may do so whilst they are under 18 using the power in 4(2) and for the Secretary of State to specify other exceptions in regulations.
Section 22 (read with sections 61 and 62 of the 2022 Act) which make provision for the duty to be suspended where a person is a potential victim of modern slavery and is cooperating with law enforcement agencies in connection with the investigation or prosecution of an offence relating to them being a potential victim of slavery or human trafficking.