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She said: “Access to the UK’s asylum system should be based on need, not the ability to pay people smugglers.
“While people are dying and families are suffering at the hands of gangs, we have to act, and act quickly.”
Provided French authorities agree, the new bill will allow border force agents to “stop and redirect vessels out of UK territorial seas.”
Under the new bill, any migrants who enter the UK illegally could face up to four years in jail.
Miss Patel hailed the fairness of the new plans as she believes it will grant protection to those genuinely fleeing “persecution, oppression or tyranny” and be fair for the British taxpayer.
She said: “If you illegally enter the UK via a safe country in which you could have claimed asylum, you are not seeking refuge from imminent peril – as is the intended purpose of the system – but are choosing the UK as a preferred destination over others.
“We will prevent these dangerous journeys to the UK by breaking the business model of the criminal gangs.
“Profiteering from illegal migration to Britain will no longer be worth the risk, with new maximum life sentences for people smugglers.”
The Home Secretary recalled a devastating phone call she had with Border force officials on Sunday.
READ MORE: Immigration laws to crackdown on ‘asylum shopping’
He said: “It follows in a long line of Government get-tough-quick schemes that have been expensive disasters for the taxpayer and simply serve to increase demand for people smugglers.”
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, added: “The Conservatives have finally admitted that their 11-years in power has resulted in a broken asylum system – the responsibility lies on their shoulders.
“Yet despite these failings, the measures being proposed in this Bill do not deal with the chaos they have created.
“They don’t deal with the fact that the time taken to process claims has rocketed or desperate people are still falling victim to criminal gangs.
“Instead, they will reduce support for victims of human trafficking, potentially break international law, and there are still no effective, meaningful proposals to deal with the increasing number of people risking their lives crossing the Channel.”
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