PRITI PATEL’S plans to overhaul the asylum system represents “the biggest attack on the right to claim asylum that we have ever seen,” campaigners warned today. 

Under the proposals, asylum-seekers will, for the first time, have their claims treated differently depending on their route of entry into Britain. 

Those who arrive illegally will not be entitled for permanent residency, even if they are granted asylum, and will have both limited family reunification rights and access to benefits. 

Describing the plans as “the most significant overhaul” of the asylum system in decades, the Home Secretary claimed the proposals present a “fair but firm long-term plan.” 

However human rights activists have branded Ms Patel’s new plans as “inhumane,” warning they would create a “two-tier system” for asylum-seekers, where people are “punished” for their journey to Britain.  

Refugee Action interim CEO Tim Naor Hilton described the proposals as a “wrecking ball to the right to claim asylum.” 

“They represent the biggest attack that we have ever seen, and will close the door to desperate people who arrive in Britain to seek safety,” he said. 

“People fleeing for their lives have little choice in how they seek safety.”

Last year about 8,500 people arrived in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats and the majority claimed asylum, the Home Office said. 

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants chief executive Satbir Singh said that the proposals would only make these journeys “more perilous.” 

“Under these proposals, LGBTQ+ people and those fleeing political or religious persecution will be left with no options,” he said.

“Those at our borders trying to reach family and friends in Britain will be pushed into the hands of people-smugglers.”

Labour has branded the new plans “callous,” adding they could put victims of trafficking at risk and help criminal gangs escape justice. 

Refugees who enter the country through the government’s resettlement schemes, which have seen almost 25,000 asylum-seekers settled in Britain between 2015 and 2019, will now be entitled to indefinite leave to remain under the proposals. 

But charities pointed out that these schemes only protect a tiny number of the world’s refugee population. 

Migrant Voice director Nazek Ramadan said that an international resettled scheme cited by Ms Patel only resettles “1 per cent of those who need it.”

“The other 99 per cent are left abandoned for years in harsh conditions,” she said.