Home Secretary Sajid Javid said, “if you do somehow make it to the UK, we [the UK Government] will do everything we can to make sure that you are often not successful [in your asylum claim].”

This comment made by the Home Secretary today amounts to the government pre-judging an individual’s claim for sanctuary, something to which every individual has a legal right. This is likely to have disturbing implications for the fairness and credibility of the UK asylum determination system as a whole.

The comment suggests that the Government is presupposing asylum applications even before the refugees arrive in the UK. Apart from breaching common principles of natural justice this comment also breaches basic Human Rights and opens potential grounds for asylum seekers to appeal negative decisions.

The comment is all the more significant coming from s new home Secretary who had claimed that he intended to create a fairer and less hostile immigration policy in the Home Office.

Asylum applicatnts are entitled to have their cases fairly determined on its individual merit, regardless of how the individual arrived in the country not be pre-determined ahead of their claim being heard, as implied by Mr Javid.