THE Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, has challenged the Government’s proposal that refugees should be allowed to claim asylum in their first country of arrival only. He said that such a move made Britain appear “little” and “mean-minded”.

Speaking in a debate on the Nationality and Borders Bill in the House of Lords on Tuesday, he said that this was “inimical to the whole basis on which the refugee convention is built” and contravened UNHCR guidance.

“The idea that asylum must be claimed in the first country of arrival has no basis in international law; this is the view of the UNHCR and of the legal community,” he said. “If imposed, it would place an unsustainable burden on a small number of nations, most of which are already under immense strain.”

The whole purpose of an internationally agreed convention was to recognise that the responsibility for the care and support of refugees needed to be carried by the whole global community, he said.

“We recognise this as a nation by setting up and running resettlement schemes, working with the international community. So to try and declare this for those who claim asylum on arrival here, even if they have passed through other nations, does not logically fit with our recognition of the need for global collaboration and a global sharing of the demands.”

Under the proposals, the likelihood of anyone’s being able to claim asylum in Britain as their first nation of arrival was almost impossible, because Britain was an island nation. Clause 11 — which divides arrivals into groups one and two — would effectively consign the vast majority of refugees to group two and make them unable to claim asylum.

“Can the Minister set out the evidence that shows how reducing the rights and entitlements of refugees will have the effect of actually deterring dangerous journeys?” Bishop Butler asked. “Is there any evidence?”

The purpose of an internationally agreed system was to ensure that all asylum-seekers found themselves treated on the basis of an equal opportunity for their case to be heard, he said.

“As framed, these proposals present a nation that wants to be not a global, generous Britain, but a little, mean-minded Britain, determined to play less and less of a role in the world. This will not do.”