‘Time to Think Outside the Box, Keir Starmer: Open a Cross-Channel Safe Route for Asylum Seekers’

In 2023, 29,437 asylum seekers arrived in the UK in small boats. By 2 September this year, 21,403 had arrived by this route, and 39 had lost their lives, prey to the hazards of the Channel, and the greed and ruthlessness of the people-traffickers. In the wake of the most recent tragedy, in which 12 people lost their lives, France’s interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, called for migrants to be able to claim UK asylum from within the EU.

Keir Starmer ruled out safe routes for asylum seekers while in opposition and it seems there has been no change now that a Labour Government is in power. With most Brits ranking immigration top of their list of concerns this might seem understandable. But what if a safe route across the Channel became a weapon in the war against the people-traffickers, and if numbers were capped within the government’s overall plans for immigration?

Here’s how it could work.

New Visas for Asylum Seekers Heading for Small Boat Crossings

The Government would offer combined asylum/work visas, alongside priority asylum visas. There could be 10,000 visas for year one. Most visas would be work visas because most of the asylum seekers aiming to cross the Channel are adults – male adults – of working age.

No Increase in UK Immigration

Opening this safe route would not increase UK immigration. Recipients of the new visas would in most cases have reached the UK anyway – via the people-traffickers and high-risk Channel crossings.

But despite this, critics would no doubt say that the new visas would increase overall UK immigration, which is already too high, and which Prime Minister Keir Starmer has committed to reduce. This criticism could be met. The Government controls regular immigration through the issue of visas. The Government could adopt a cap or target for migrants entering the UK under work, student and other existing visas, and yet count the number of asylum seekers admitted under the new visas  towards filling these caps or targets.     

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Asylum Seekers with Work Visas Would Contribute to the UK Economy

A distinction is often drawn between refugees and economic migrants. The distinction is valid enough, but it should not mask the fact that individuals may be both fleeing persecution and seeking economic betterment, and the latter motive does not invalidate the former. If UK policy recognised the economic ambitions of asylum seekers and allowed some to enter the UK both as workers and as refugees, that would save those concerned from the clutches of criminal gangs and help to torpedo the traffickers’ business model. The option of free visas and a safe route to the UK would discourage thousands of asylum seekers from paying extortionate prices for high-risk Channel crossings in overcrowded inflatable boats.  

At the same time, working asylum seekers would be contributing to the UK economy. They would also be saving the taxpayer the cost of accommodation and support payments during periods they might otherwise have spent workless while waiting for decisions on their asylum applications.

What a Scheme for Combined Asylum/Work Visas Would Look Like

Applications for combined visas would be made at a UK-staffed centre in France, which would provide advice and assistance, and a venue for interviews.  Visas would be granted after a preliminary assessment, and only to refugees from countries whose nationals normally enjoyed a success rate of at least 80% in visa applications. Visas granted would amount to provisional recognition of refugee status, and recipients could at once take up work in the UK while consideration of their applications for refugee status continued. The visas of those whose applications ultimately failed would be withdrawn.

Some of the Normal Requirements for a Work Visa Would Be Relaxed

The work visa element of the combined visa could be loosely modelled on the current worker (“skilled worker”) visa, with the key condition being an offer of employment from a licensed sponsor. But some requirements would be relaxed. For asylum/work visas unskilled work would qualify, and there would be no minimum salary requirement. Relaxation of requirements would be justified because under current rules asylum seekers granted refugee status are then entitled to work, and recipients of asylum/work visas would be provisionally recognised as refugees.

The Language Requirement Would Be Relaxed

A normal requirement for a work visa is that the applicant speak and understand English to a standard that is above basic but less than proficient. But there are some jobs which do not require English language skills to that level. Under the asylum/work visa the language requirement could be relaxed if the sponsoring employer confirmed that this would be practical for the employment in question, or if the language of the asylum seeker was spoken in the workplace in question.

The UK Government would promote the new asylum/work visa scheme to employers, who could apply to be placed on the existing Register of sponsors as sponsors of asylum seekers. Employers with languages spoken in the workplace which were likely to be spoken by applicants for visas could be particularly encouraged by the Government.

Sponsoring Employers Might Contribute to Resettlement Costs

They could do this by a “welcome package” or an advance in wages. There are normally charges for work visas, but there would be no charges in respect of asylum/work visas. Like conventional work visas, the combined visa would cover a partner and children.

A Priority Asylum Visa for Those Unable to Qualify for an Asylum/Work Visa

Those unable to qualify for an asylum/work visa with a good claim for priority – such as unaccompanied children – could apply for a priority asylum visa. Like those given work visas, recipients of priority asylum visas would be provisionally recognised as refugees. Adult holders of these visas would be entitled to work when they reached the UK. They would be given a full briefing in France on the support they could hope to receive in the UK by way of benefits, local government assistance, and assistance from charities. Unaccompanied children would be escorted to the UK as soon as their applications were granted.

The New Visas Would Support the Government’s Battle Against the Criminal Gangs

Safe routes are not in themselves a solution to the refugee crisis which challenges the whole of Europe as well as the UK. But a safe route via these new visas could squeeze the business plans of the people-traffickers and dissuade thousands of asylum seekers from risking their lives in the Channel. The visas would not increase UK immigration by one jot.

There would be plenty of opposition to this, but it would be misplaced. And what’s the use of a huge majority if you don’t take advantage of it in a good cause?

It’s time to think outside the box.