Safe Third Country

Section 16 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 inserted a provision into the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 allowing the Secretary of State to declare an asylum claim inadmissible where the claimant has a connection to a 'safe third State'. An inadmissibility declaration is not a decision to refuse the claim, so it does not itself carry a right of appeal, and the claim cannot then be considered under the Immigration Rules unless certain exceptions apply.

A State counts as a 'safe third State' for a particular claimant if the claimant's life and liberty are not threatened there because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; the State will not send a person onward otherwise than in accordance with the Refugee Convention or in breach of Article 3 ECHR (freedom from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment); and a person may apply to be recognised as a refugee and receive protection there in accordance with the Refugee Convention.