UK government wants tougher immigration measures

Britain's Conservative government of Rishi Sunak plans to introduce a new bill against illegal immigration on Tuesday, aimed in particular at preventing people arriving across the Channel on small boats from seeking asylum in the UK, several newspapers reported.

Despite Brexit promises to "regain control" of the border, the UK is facing a spike in arrivals, with a record more than 45,<> people arriving on the country's shores in this way last year and pressure mounts on the prime minister to curb the phenomenon.

The text, which has been the subject of anticipation for weeks, includes measures to facilitate the detention and deportation of asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally "as soon as possible", the Times and Daily Mail reported in their editions published on Monday.

The government intends to return them to Rwanda under a law that had been voted on but could not be enforced due to judicial proceedings that prevented it, or to another country deemed safe. People who arrived illegally will be banned for life from returning to the UK.

London is also considering developing new "legal and safe" ways for asylum seekers, the Times reported, without giving further details.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who takes a firm approach to the subject like the prime minister, told The Sun newspaper on Sunday: "Our actions will be simple in principle and in practice: the only way for the UK will be safe and legal."

Sunak is expected to arrive in Paris on Friday for a bilateral summit with French President Emmanuel Macron.

"Stopping the boats" of illegal immigrants is one of the five priorities set by the British prime minister between now and the next general election.

The arrival of these migrants, who were accommodated in hotels while their asylum claims were being processed, has led to tensions in a number of cities in the country, coinciding with anti-refugee demonstrations, such as Saturday in Dover.