BORDER force officials involved in migrant “pushbacks” in the Channel could be given immunity from prosecution if a refugee is killed during an operation, a leading immigration lawyer has warned. 

Home Secretary Priti Patel is seeking to introduce a new set of maritime enforcement laws in her Nationality and Borders Bill to allow Border Force to carry out the widely condemned practice. 

But an overlooked provision in the Bill could see immigration officials given new legal protections, according to an analysis of the legislation by specialist immigration barrister Colin Yeo. 

Writing in Free Movement, Mr Yeo highlights a section of the Bill stating that an officer is “not liable in any criminal or civil proceedings” for actions carried out during a pushback. 

This is providing that the act was done in “good faith” and with “reasonable grounds” for doing so, the Bill states. 

Mr Yeo claims this could “make officials immune from criminal and civil court action if a refugee dies during a marine pushback operation.” 

However, the barrister stresses that the clause is unlikely to provide a legitimate defence, asking: “How can there ever be reasonable grounds for pushing back a small boat loaded with refugees in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes?”

He argues that if a Border Force official did not rescue a refugee in distress they would be breaking both international and British law.

The family of a loved one who died in such circumstances would be able to bring a case for compensation under human rights law, he adds. 

The policy has been proposed in a bid to crack down on small boats crossing the Channel. Border Force has already been spotted practising the manoeuvre with jet skis. 

Channel Rescue, a group of volunteers who spot refugee boats off the coast, said that while the policy currently seems implausible, it is “worrying that the legal architecture is being put in place for the process.”

“I think they’re trying to build a consensus to conduct pushbacks in the Channel, so I wouldn’t rule it out,” Richard, from the group, who did not give his surname to protect his identity, told the Morning Star, adding that he did not think officials involved would face legal sanctions. 

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants policy and advocacy manager Zoe Gardner said: “Saving people’s lives at sea shouldn’t be controversial, but the plans laid out in government’s new anti-refugee Bill appear to fly in the face of this basic moral imperative. 

“Patel’s extreme proposals try to grant a blank cheque to herself and her officials while seeking to criminalise people trying to find protection in the UK.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing response to these dangerous crossings, we continue to evaluate and test a range of safe and legal options for stopping small boats.

“All operational procedures used at sea comply and are delivered in accordance with domestic and international law.