The UK Government’s handling of the rising numbers of people crossing the Channel in small boats is “lacking in competence and compassion”, the shadow home secretary has said, as pressure mounts on ministers to offer safe and legal routes for asylum seekers.
Nick Thomas-Symonds said the attempt to “militarise a response to a humanitarian crisis was shameful” in a letter to the home secretary, Priti Patel, after she requested support from the Ministry of Defence. He demanded to see any legal advice that informed the controversial move.
A £340m RAF Poseidon P8 aircraft – principally intended to track the movements of Russian submarines – buzzed over the Channel on Wednesday to help Border Force patrol boats spot migrants. It was the second time the armed forces have launched a plane over the Channel this week.
Thomas-Symonds intervention came after major humanitarian groups and charities warned there would be an increase in crossings if the UK government does not strike an adequate family reunion deal before the Brexit transition period ends.
EU legislation known as the Dublin regulation determines the member state responsible for handling an asylum application, with family unity being a primary consideration.
Since 2015, 3,079 people have been transferred to the UK under the Dublin regulation, including 714 transfers in 2019, to be reunited with their families as they claim asylum.
When the transition period ends on 31 December, so will the UK’s obligations under the Dublin regulation.
Safe Passage International, which helps unaccompanied child refugees access Dublin family reunions, said the closure of this route would force more children into lorries and dinghies.
Jennine Walker, head of UK Legal at Safe Passage International, said: “The government says it wants to reduce the numbers of people crossing the Channel, but if children and separated families cannot access family reunion, they are going to have no choice but risk their lives.
“It is disgraceful that the government is closing a legal route that has protected people from smugglers and traffickers by giving them a safe way to reach their relatives and start rebuilding their lives. Unless the government agrees a family reunion replacement that is at least as good as Dublin, smugglers and trafficking gangs will have a field day when the transition period ends.”
The number of crossings in small boats this year is already more than double the total in 2019.
The crossings have been met with a hardline approach from the government, which has pledged to work with France to make the route unviable. Ministers have said a “comprehensive plan” is being worked on “at pace”, but little detail has been offered.
Earlier this week, the MoD provided an A400M Atlas transport to fly over the Channel at heights of less than 1000 feet, although officials denied its purpose was intimidatory, saying it was intended to help correctly identify blips on the radar.
But there still no sign of Royal Navy ships coming to work alongside Border Force at sea. MoD officials said that talks with the Home Office were ongoing over whether to provide additional naval capability.
Thomas-Symonds said: “The approach being pursued by the Government is lacking in competence and compassion, resulting in thousands of people, including many children, risking their lives in incredibly dangerous waters.”
In May the government published a draft Brexit proposal to replace family reunion, but lawyers have described the text as a “blank cheque to people smugglers”.
In June a cross-party group of MPs tried to table an amendment to an immigration bill to protect family reunion rules, but the government voted it down.
Campaigners hope the government will be defeated when the bill returns to the Lords with Alf Dubs leading efforts to rally peers in support of family reunion with a fresh amendment.
Lord Dubs, a former child refugee whose tireless campaigning led to the introduction of the Dubs scheme, which facilitated the transfer of unaccompanied children to the UK, said: “We must not forget that children trying to reach the UK have fled war and persecution and tragically many continue to experience unimaginable dangers one they reach Europe.
“The government’s draft Brexit text is completely inadequate and there are no guarantees the EU will even agree a family reunion deal.”
Laura Padoan, a spokesperson for UNHCR said: “After the Brexit transition period, we hope that mechanisms will be in place to allow refugees in Europe with family in the UK to transfer here safely and legally. But more also needs to be done to make the immigration rules in the UK less restrictive and burdensome so that refugees can reunite more easily with their family members who aren’t in Europe.”
Vickie Hawkins, executive director at Médecins Sans Frontières UK, said: “It is deeply hypocritical for the government to attack people for using unsafe routes to the UK, while simultaneously shutting down the few safe, legal routes for seeking sanctuary which exist.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have made a generous offer to the EU on a future reciprocal arrangement for the family reunion of unaccompanied children seeking asylum (UASC) where it is in the child’s best interests.
“No one should risk their lives by making these dangerous crossings. The UK does more to support unaccompanied children than any EU member state, and last year our asylum applications from unaccompanied children accounted for approximately 20% of all UASC claims made in the EU.”