Shabana Mahmood has announced an expansion of legal routes to claim asylum in the UK, saying three deaths in the Channel on Monday show the urgent need to act. The Home Secretary said cruel smuggling gangs must not get to decide who comes to the UK, pledging to work with the United Nations (UN) to give refugees a chance to rebuild their lives.
Deaths in the Channel
Her pledge came hours after a 10-year-old child and two women died attempting to cross the Channel when their dinghy capsized. Ms Mahmood told the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool: "It is not fair that criminal gangs determine who comes to this country.
"It is not fair that they put dangerous boats into the water with no regard for human life. Shown once again today, with three more tragic deaths in the Channel. It is not fair that those with a genuine need of protection cannot find a safe and legal way to claim asylum."
UK Resettlement Route and sponsorship schemes
She said the government will relaunch a UK Resettlement Route in partnership with the UN, with the first arrivals this year. It will result in hundreds arriving per year at first, growing into the low thousands as levels of illegal migration fall. The Home Secretary has confirmed a cap will be set each year.
She told the party faithful: "We will take vulnerable refugees from across the world and give them the chance of a new and better life here in Britain with the first arrivals this year. I am proud to say that around a quarter will be Afghan women and girls fleeing persecution under the Taliban. And Palestinians who have fled the horrors of Gaza."
Under current rules, people fleeing oppressive regimes often find themselves unable to apply for asylum in the UK from overseas. Ms Mahmood said her proposals would be a hammer blow to smuggling gangs behind small boat crossings.
She said that from next month, the UK will begin accepting applications from charities and nonprofit organisations to sponsor refugees through new safe and legal routes. The first step, she told the conference, will be a community sponsorship route allowing local communities to host refugees. This will be accompanied by a student sponsorship route allowing universities to do the same. On top of this, applications for sponsors for a further work route will open early next year.
Reaction from Refugee Council
The move has been welcomed by humanitarian groups. Imran Hussain, executive director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: "We are deeply saddened to learn three people, including a child, have died, and more may have been seriously injured while crossing the Channel in the hope of finding safety in Britain. We are thinking about the many people who will have been affected by this morning's tragedy.
"Refugees are often ordinary people who have been through unimaginably difficult situations. Too many men, women and children are forced on treacherous journeys like these, not by choice, but through desperation and the lack of safe alternatives.
"Today we welcome the Government's commitment to expanding safe and legal routes for refugees, an essential policy for undermining the people smugglers' business model. This morning's Channel tragedy only reminds us of the urgent need to do more, and the need to support refugees through safe routes in the thousands, not hundreds."
