No sex offender will be able to claim asylum in Britain

Migrants convicted of sexual offences will be banned from claiming asylum in the UK under a change to the law aimed at improving border security.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL MILLIE COOKE

Under the Refugee Convention, countries are able to refuse asylum to those who have committed “particularly serious” crimes and are a danger to the community, with the provision currently used to block claims from criminals handed prison sentences longer than one year.

Sir Keir Starmer’s crackdown will extend the provision to include anyone convicted of a crime which places them on the sex offenders register, regardless of the length of their sentence.

Home Office sources said the change could have prevented the Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi from being granted asylum despite convictions for sex offences in 2018. But officials repeatedly refused to give an estimate of how many migrants would be affected by the changes.

The new measure will be introduced in an amendment to the government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently going through Parliament, the Home Office said.

It is hoped the move will send a clear message that sex offences are treated with the “seriousness they deserve”.