UK strips sex offenders of refugee rights as migrant numbers surge

Foreign born sex offenders are to be banned from claiming asylum in the UK under proposed new legislation. 

The move will classify sexual offences as a "particularly serious crime" according to the UK's interior ministry, putting sex offenders on the same footing as terrorists and war criminals who can already be refused asylum and deported. 

The announcement has come just as new figures show a 40 percent year-on-year rise in the number of people making the small boats crossing to the UK from France. 

'Appalling crimes' 

Under the proposals, foreigners convicted of sex offences in the UK or elsewhere will be excluded from existing protections offered by the Refugee Convention, even if their sentence is less than 12 months. 

The UK's interior minister Yvette Cooper said the government was acting to "ensure these appalling crimes are taken seriously."

The changes will be made as an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is currently making its way into law. 

It's hoped the new legislation will help tackle cases like that of Afghan migrant Abdul Ezedi, who in January 2024 attacked his ex-partner and her children with a corrosive liquid in a London street.

It was later confirmed Ezedi was on the sex offenders register, after receiving suspended jail sentences of less than a year for two previous offenses. He had been granted asylum in the UK after two failed attempts.

His body was recovered from the Thames just hours after the attack.

However, the opposition Conservatives called the new measures "too little too late."

'Right to Family Life'

The proposals come as official figures show the number of migrants taking the hazardous small boats crossing to the UK has exceeded 10,000 so far in 2025. That is a rise of 40 percent on last year's figure.   

As part of a wider attempt at "restoring order to a broken asylum system" the government says it is also reviewing the "right to a family life" clause in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

Article 8 has been used successfully by some migrants and asylum seekers to challenge deportation orders.

Later this week, the UK's ruling Labour party faces elections in 26 local councils, and a parliamentary by-election in the north west of England. 

With migration levels still high on the list of voter concerns, the opposition Conservatives have dismissed the new announcements as a "desperate pre-election performance."