MORE than 200 leading charities have signed a pledge to continue the fight against the Tories’ “anti-refugee laws” after peers finally voted through the reforms. 

A Westminster stand-off over the Nationality and Borders Bill came to an end on Wednesday night after the legislation was passed by MPs and peers. 

The widely condemned legislation was passed just hours before Parliament’s end of session deadline, with the final result met with shouts of “shame” across the House. 
 
Now set to pass into law, the Borders Bill will legalise asylum offshoring and the creation of mass reception centres in Britain, while further criminalising asylum-seekers and creating a two-tier asylum system. 

Campaigners expressed their dismay today at the passage of the Bill, but pledged to continue fighting the measures. 

Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director Steve Valdez-Symonds accused the government of “ripping up the Refugee Convention” and said it had “shamefully abandoned the responsibility it owes to refugees.”

Doctors without Borders (MSF) UK’s advocacy adviser Sophie McCann hit out at those MPs who passed the “discriminatory, violent and blatantly racist” Bill.

“Any MP who voted in favour of it will be complicit in the abuse of some of the most vulnerable people in the world,” she said.

Safe Passage International CEO Beth Gardiner-Smith claimed the Bill will not work.

She said: “It won’t help refugees, it won’t break the business model of smugglers and it won’t prevent dangerous Channel crossings.

“What’s needed most is what’s missing from the Bill entirely: safe routes for those who need it.”

Following the passage of the Bill, more than 235 groups, including some of Britain’s biggest charities, vowed to carry on the fight against the “hostile new anti-refugee laws.” 

They include Oxfam, Save the Children, homeless charity Crisis and anti-racism organisation Runnymede Trust along with dozens of migrant and refugee rights groups. 

Refugee Action chief executive Tim Naor Hilton, one of the signatories, said: “These extreme and vicious new laws give ministers the green light to treat refugees with ever-more hostility.

“We must stand alongside people fleeing war and persecution and continue to fight tooth and nail against all attempts to bully the families and individuals who simply want to live their lives in safety.”

The Lords eventually backed the Bill after repeatedly amending it over recent months only to have the measures reinstated by MPs. The Bill passed just ahead of the suspension of Parliament today.