London, United Kingdom, January 12, 2024 — Responding to the UK government publishing a report on existing and proposed additional safe and legal routes to the UK, Laura Kyrke-Smith, Executive Director of International Rescue Committee UK, said,
"The government should be in no doubt that its continued failure to introduce new safe routes to the UK will cost lives, as desperate people feel they have no choice but to make dangerous journeys.
In 2023, the government pushed its Illegal Migration Act through Parliament by promising Parliamentarians it would introduce new safe routes. This report introduces none.
At the same time, the report confirms the end of the right to claim asylum in the UK, stating that ‘we will not consider asylum claims made abroad and there is no provision in the Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to claim asylum’.
This leaves many desperate people fleeing conflict and crisis with no options in the UK.
Once again, the government is burying its head in the sand. The current policy mix of inadequate resettlement schemes, ineffective deterrence measures and the removal of the right to seek asylum will not stop the boats. The government should invest the money currently being spent on deterrence measures in a functioning asylum system and adequate, accessible safe routes for people in great danger and need.”