Asylum in the UK

Promises that sovereignty would be regained, immigration and asylum controlled, and national identity reasserted were central to the Brexit referendum campaign and the decision to leave the EU. The chapter charts the sovereignty myths that underpin commonly held views concerning asylum. It traces pre- and post-Brexit changes in UK and EU asylum law, the starting point being that the UK’s obligations to those in need of international protection derive from international law. There is an overview of the EU’s Common European Asylum System and the UK’s former position therein. This is followed by post-Brexit UK legal developments, which are divided into three phases—distortion, repudiation, and potential reset. There is consideration of ‘reforms’ to EU asylum law, and the extent to which there is UK and EU convergence and divergence in relation to externalization, criminalization, and selectivity. The chapter concludes with discussion of sovereignty myths and the rule of law.