Damning report calls for major change to stop deaths in small boat crossings

A damning report by cross-party MPs has called on Keir Starmer to expand safe and legal routes – saying that the ‘inadequate’ system is driving people to people smugglers

Refugees who fled persecution have pleaded for safe routes to the UK to be expanded after a damning report by MPs found current systems are “inadequate”.

A cross-party committee today warns people from many parts of the world have “no choice” but to make the dangerous Channel crossings, which claimed an estimated 78 lives last year. MPs heard from refugees who escaped Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan who said that current routes are not fit for purpose.

They said that under the current system people need to reach the UK in order to claim asylum – forcing them to turn to trafficking gangs. Labour peer Lord Alf Dubs, who was himself rescued from the Nazis when he was a child, said people fleeing conflict “have no viable alternatives, leaving them at the mercy of people smugglers”.

Writing for The Mirror, Lord Dubs said targeting smuggling gangs alone will not end deaths in the Channel. He said: “Targeting and dismantling the smuggling gangs is necessary to address dangerous Channel crossings, but it is not enough and leads to smugglers taking greater risks with the lives of refugees.

“As pressure on the smuggling networks intensifies, the boats are becoming increasingly overloaded and setting off from riskier locations, putting more lives at risk. For too long, the response to Channel crossings has focused on deterrence and enforcement, without addressing the root causes.”

The report by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), made up of 16 MPs, urged the Government to include safe and legal routes in the new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. It also said ministers should reinstate resettlement targets, reform family reunion processes, and pilot a humanitarian visa scheme.

Sudanese refugee Mohanad, who reached the UK on the back of a lorry, said: “I was training to be a doctor in Sudan, but I was targeted because of my tribe.

“I had no choice but to flee. I travelled to Europe, but couldn’t stay in France, the camps were so hostile and police treatment was bad. There are no routes to safety for Sudanese people who are persecuted like me.”

And Amir, who was evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban swooped to power, said: “Nobody likes to leave their motherland but in Afghanistan people can’t even dosimple things like fly a kite or listen to music without fear.

“My mother and sister have no freedom. I long to be reunited with them.”

The committee also heard from Waeed, from Syria, who spent seven years in a Jordanian refugee camp before coming to the UK under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS). She told them: “I was so scared when I was in ther efugee camp in Jordan of beingreturned to war-torn Syria, and we onlyhad a few hours of electricity in thecamp each day. More people should begiven the chance to rebuild their lives inthe UK like I am.”

The APPG report states: “There is currently no way to apply for asylum to the UK unless you are physically present in the country. This means that people fleeing war and persecution are reliant on the limited and inadequate schemes available, otherwise they have to pay people smugglers and risk their lives insearch of safety in the UK.”