Powell, ‘Editorial’, 2024

Alex Powell, ‘Editorial’, 2024 Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law 38(1), 4-9

[Introduction to special issue focusing on the implications of the New Plan for Immigration for the LGBTIQA+ community]

Introduction

Refugee law in the UK is in a moment of flux. Recent years have seen the issue of migration in general, and ‘illegal migration’1 in particular, as focal points of government policy. The current fixation on ‘small boats’ is only the latest iteration of this highly politicised focus. In the two years prior to the publication of this special issue, the focus on migration has resulted in two major legislative enactments, specifically the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the Illegal Migration Act 2023. As well as these legislative enactments, the UK has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Rwanda, and unveiled a raft of other policies aimed at deterring ‘illegal’ entry into the UK by targeting both those who undertake journeys and those who seek to facilitate them. Rarely a day goes by where discussion of issues relating to asylum does not form a part of the news cycle. Indeed, issues in relation to migration have taken their place in a broader culture war which has also seen a more aggressive posture towards the rights of LGBTIQA+ people, with conceptual battles circulating as much around the concepts of gender and sexuality as they have around the concept of the refugee.