REFUGEE rights campaigners have condemned Rishi Sunak’s pledge to deport asylum-seekers “within days” of their arrival in Britain as “vindictive, dysfunctional and self-sabotaging.”

In an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, the Prime Minister said that new laws would allow the government to speed up the removal of people who enter the country without documents. 

Mr Sunak said that the new legislation would prevent people who arrive “illegally” from claiming asylum and insisted that the Rwanda deportation policy would go ahead despite ongoing legal challenges. 

“The system that we need, the system that I want to introduce is one whereby if you come here illegally, you should be swiftly detained and then in a matter of days or weeks we will hear your claim, not months and years, and then we will safely remove you somewhere else,” he said. 

In the “vast majority” of cases, asylum-seekers will be sent back to their home countries if they are safe or to Rwanda, he added. 

“But the key thing we need to do is introduce new laws and very soon we’ll be introducing new laws into Parliament which deliver the system that I explained, the system which says if you come here illegally, you’re not really going to be able to stay here.”

Human rights groups have accused the government of failing in its duties towards refugees through its plans to ship asylum-seekers to Africa and a forthcoming new anti-refugee Bill. 

Freedom from Torture asylum policy and campaigns manager Matilda Bryce branded Mr Sunak’s proposals “vindictive, dysfunctional and self-sabotaging.” 

She warned: “While efforts to address the unacceptable asylum backlog are essential, this legislation will do nothing to relieve the pressure on our forsaken asylum system.”

Mr Sunak made the comments on Thursday during an interview marking 100 days of his premiership.

Stopping small boat crossings was one of five key pledges he made in a speech last month. 

However, Refugee Action chief executive Tim Naor-Hilton warned that new legislation to speed up the removal of asylum-seekers to Rwanda would not stop small boat crossings. 

“This deal clearly discriminates against people fleeing from countries in the Middle East and Africa, from where there are no safe routes to get to the UK,” he said. 

“The Prime Minister must step away from this ridiculous plan and build a refugee protection system that is compassionate, just and workable, no matter where they are from.” 

Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said: “A person’s right to asylum is based on the level of danger they are escaping from and does not depend on how they travel to the place where they are seeking sanctuary.

“Sunak’s hardline plans are nothing new and will have no effect on small boat crossings. There is a more humane and effective way to stop people risking their lives in small boats. We need to give safe passage to refugees in Calais.”