According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), UK Prime Minister Theresa May's plan to replace the Human Rights Acts with a Bill of Rights raises — contained in her party's 2015 election manifesto — raises "serious concerns" over Britain's record on human rights.
Our report out today shows a worrying lack of progress on #humanrights. #UPR https://t.co/83HaLYPK3z pic.twitter.com/iM8kMWFBPc
— EHRC (@EHRC) 12 December 2016
In the light of the outcome of the election — a victory for the Conservative Party, under David Cameron, and the EU referendum, which resulted in Brexit — the EHRC has raised "serious concerns", saying "any proposed changes to human rights law must not weaken the protections we all enjoy or move our country backwards."
"The state's treatment of those in custody, such as prisons, police cells or immigration detention centers, causes serious concern. We are facing the highest number of child refugees since the Second World War, but our national response has been found wanting," said David Isaac, Chair of the EHRC.
In its report, 'Protecting human rights: Key challenges for the UK's third Universal Periodic Review', the EHRC found that, in the two weeks following the EU referendum, there was a 57 percent increase in online reports of hate crime in England and Wales.
Demonization of Foreigners
In April 2015, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights criticized the UK tabloid press for 'demonizing foreigners and minorities', which 'has continued unchallenged under the law for far too long'. The EHRC is calling on the UK Government to work with relevant stakeholders to tackle the negative portrayal of particular groups by the media.
Despite unease reflected in an independent review of the welfare of immigration detainees, 'Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons' and the passing of the new Immigration Act 2016, the UK is the only country in Europe without a statutory limit and some vulnerable persons, such as pregnant women, continue to be detained.
We want independent guardians for all unaccompanied migrant children. Read our #UPR report. https://t.co/tzdKIUhuQT #HumanRights. pic.twitter.com/WDUY61rq6L
— EHRC (@EHRC) 12 December 2016
The EHRC also says that the UK Government "may have reneged" on its commitment to end the practice of unnecessarily detaining children for immigration purposes. The EHRC says it's concerned that age assessments of young asylum seekers continue to be carried out on a subjective basis by immigration officers and calls on Theresa May's government to end the immigration detention of children.
