THE government’s recent “national security” rhetoric on migration will fuel the ascendant far right, refugee rights groups warned yesterday.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper outlined new legislation targeting smuggling gangs yesterday.

Under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, individuals selling or handling boat parts suspected of being used for Channel crossings could face up to 14 years in prison.

Endangering another life during a sea crossing to Britain will become a new offence carrying a five-year jail term.

The measures are part of a raft of new offences and counter-terror powers designed to illustrate Labour’s crackdown on small boat arrivals.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously vowed to treat people-smugglers as “terrorists” in a bid to curb crossings.

More than 1,000 people made the journey in January.

The government is expected to push for the legislation to come into force this year, pending approval from MPs and peers.

Refugee Action chief executive Tim Naor Hilton said: “Framing migration as a ‘national security’ issue to use counter-terrorism-style laws will irreparably harm refugees, many of them children, and stoke divisions  — as we saw with last summer’s racist riots.   

“The government wants to repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act and parts of the Illegal Migration Act.

“But in its current form, this Bill is a missed opportunity to improve the asylum and immigration system and build unity.”

He urged the government to amend existing laws by protecting the right to claim asylum on arrival, creating safe routes to Britain, giving people the right to work, and fully repealing the last government’s anti-refugee laws.

Natasha Tsangarides of Freedom from Torture warned that the Bill would do nothing to address the root causes of forced displacement, adding: “Cracking down on the methods refugees use to escape war and persecution will only make their journeys more dangerous.  

“We fear that the government’s current approach, directed through the frame of counter-terrorism, risks intensifying the vulnerability of those who are forced to rely on smugglers in the absence of safe routes.”

Asylum Matters executive director Louise Calvey said the Bill was “a chance to make the change that’s desperately needed in our asylum system,” but the government has instead “ignored evidence and experts to create a Bill that repeats the same mistakes that have been costing lives and causing immense suffering for years.”