Criminalising Asylum: From exceptionalism to Rwanda | Inaugural lecture by Professor Singer
In this lecture, Professor Sarah Singer explored the UK’s increasing use of ‘exceptional’ measures in the asylum field, measures which had previously been reserved for those suspected of the most serious criminality. This trend towards exceptionalism manifests most starkly in the UK’s new expansive asylum inadmissibility rules and the UK-Rwanda asylum pact. These developments, it is argued, challenge the humanitarian imperative of the UK’s asylum system and will give rise to acute practical and policy challenges on a far greater scale than those which have so far plagued the country’s response to suspected criminals. Professor Singer examined how this trend towards exceptionality has come to characterise UK responses to forced migration, and what alternate approaches might ensure a more just and workable asylum system today.