This document addresses the UK and UNHCR proposals for reforming the asylum system in the EU. It focuses on a number of the key legal deficiencies that Amnesty International has identified in each. These include whether it is lawful to transfer persons to another country for extra-territorial processing, and the risk of human rights abuses in the course of transfer, in particular forcible transfer. Amnesty International is particularly concerned that detention appears to be a necessary element of each proposal. Other concerns include the risk that transfers may amount to discriminatory treatment, in breach of human rights standards.