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The head of the Scottish Refugee Council, Sabir Zazai, who arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry 23 years ago, has said Rishi Sunak\u2019s illegal migration bill<\/a> would have denied sanctuary to thousands of refugees such as him and Sir Mo Farah.<\/p>\n The home secretary, Suella Braverman, struggled to clarify<\/a> on Wednesday whether the Olympic gold medallist Farah would have been deported as soon as he turned 18 years old under the latest immigration proposals.<\/p>\n But Zazai, who was presented with an OBE in January for his work, said the bill closed the door on the vast majority of refugees seeking safety today and historically.<\/p>\n Zazai, who had fled from Afghanistan, said: \u201cThere\u2019s no regular route. If there was a regular route, I wouldn\u2019t have risked my life and many other people will not risk their lives and the lives of their children.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201c[This would have affected] all of us. Not just Mo Farah<\/a> or me, but hundreds of thousands of people who fled and live their lives here. The friends, colleagues and neighbours, the people who have brought so much to this country, all of them would be affected.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressure continues to mount on Sunak\u2019s government after widespread condemnation of the proposals from national and international bodies. The United Nations refugee agency warned that the bill risked \u201cextinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n Under the current system, to apply for asylum in the UK, applicants must be physically in the country. Last year 1,185 refugees were resettled to the UK, a 75% decrease from 2019.<\/p>\n Zazai said: \u201cThe refugee convention does not talk about people arriving with papers, passports and visas. It would leave people fleeing violent and oppressive regimes with no legal way to claim asylum. The UK does not have an asylum visa. It has no humanitarian protection or humanitarian corridors for people to seek protection here, apart from the Ukraine scheme and the very restrictive Afghan scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n Only 22 refugees came to the UK on the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme. In the last year, more than 210,000 visas have been issued to people from Ukraine to travel to the UK. \u201cWhy don\u2019t we see Ukrainians on the boats? Because there\u2019s a safe passage for them,\u201d Zazai said.<\/p>\n He said the lack of safe routes had long forced refugees to enter the UK through irregular means. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way my family or the families of many other people that could come to the UK, from places like Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Eritrea, and Sudan. Places that we know that there is still ongoing conflicts.\u201d<\/p>\n