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The Independent
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Tackle small boats crossings by letting migrants apply for UK asylum from France, think tank suggests
Britain could reduce the number of people making perilous journeys across the Channel by allowing migrants to apply for asylum from management centres in France, a think tank has proposed. New centres set up outside Calais could allow people to apply for UK asylum or to be reunited with family in Britain. The number of asylum seekers granted sanctuary to the UK would be on a rolling monthly cap, a new report from the Future Governance Forum (FGF) think tank has said, and in return France would take back the equivalent number of migrants who have arrived on UK shores in small boats. The proposals mirror policies enacted by the Biden administration in the US, which allowed people on the Southern border to access pre-arrival processing. Offices were set up in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador to allow migrants to apply to resettle in the US through legal pathways, including by pursuing refugee status. The programme aimed to decrease the number of people making the dangerous crossings at the US-Mexico border. The UK is already in discussions with France on a scheme to return migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats. In return, UK government officials have reportedly floated the idea of accepting migrants seeking reunion with family members already in Britain. The French interior ministry said in April that the pilot scheme would be based on a 'one-for-one principle'. This would mean that 'for each legal admission under family reunification, there would be a corresponding readmission of undocumented migrants who managed to cross [the Channel]'. Author of the report from the progressive think tank FGF, Beth Gardiner-Smith, said: 'Setting up new 'asylum management centres' in France would enable the government to restore control to the UK's asylum system and cut the growing number of people attempting to come to the UK via dangerous Channel crossings in small boats. 'Asylum management centres, working alongside a future readmissions agreement, would provide the realistic deterrent and incentive needed to prevent people getting into boats.' The report said that refugees are likely to delay crossing the Channel if they could get a decision on an asylum claim while in France. They argue: 'Full asylum processing allows the UK to admit only those with a valid asylum claim, thus removing the challenge of returning those who arrive without a valid claim, many of whom cannot be returned because we have no returns agreement or the country of origin is unsafe'. Publication of the report comes ahead of a UK-EU reset summit on Monday, where ministers are hoping to sign a joint pact on security. The European Council has said that migration and youth mobility will also be on the agenda. Home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the UK government have recently persuaded France to change their rules to allow police to stop migrants boarding boats from the water. Ms Cooper said that smugglers have been picking up migrants from the water rather than the beach, as French police currently don't intervene once migrants are in the water. The home secretary said that French ministers have now approved a change to the rules, which will be put into effect 'over the next few months'.
Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Radical asylum change could send small boat crossings plummeting, report claims
A former advisor to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called on the UK and French governments to copy measures Joe Biden brought in to tackle dangerous migration Asylum centres should be set up in France so people can apply to come to the UK without getting in small boats, a former advisor to Yvette Cooper said last night. A new study calls on the Government to copy the Joe Biden administration's co-operation with Mexico, which drove down unauthorised crossings by 90% for some nationalities. A report published today by the Future Governance Forum (FGF) calls for Britain and France to set up new centres far away from Calais. Beth Gardiner-Smith, a former advisor to the now-Home Secretary, said: 'Currently, there is no way to apply for asylum if you're outside the UK, leading thousands to take irregular and dangerous journeys by small boats instead. Asylum Management Centres, working alongside a future readmissions agreement, would provide the realistic deterrent and incentive needed to prevent people getting into boats.' The report also proposes a cap on numbers, with the UK seeking an agreement with France to return failed asylum seekers on a one-in-one-out basis. It suggests that as relations with Europe are reset, French President Emmanuel Macron might seize the opportunity to stop Calais being a "fortress". Ms Gardiner-Smith continued: 'In its final months in office, the Biden administration demonstrated that this approach could reduce irregular border crossings by some nationalities by over 90%... "The UK-EU reset Summit is an opportunity to seek a similar approach to the Channel.' The FGF argues that processing applications before asylum seekers arrive would give the UK more say in who is allowed in. Its report states: " Keir Starmer may have been more careful to manage public expectations on the Channel than his immediate predecessor, but ultimately the government's performance will be judged on delivery not words. "The question is whether the government is prepared to level with the public on what that means, providing a clear vision for a safer, more controlled system that maintains Britain's commitment to provide asylum to those in need." A Home Office spokesman said: 'To stop the criminal smuggling gangs from undermining our border security, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have said the UK and France must work closely together to prevent dangerous channel crossings, particularly on vital law enforcement cooperation. 'The French have deployed a new elite unit of officers at the coast and a new specialist intelligence unit. "The Home Secretary has worked with her French counterpart to change their maritime posture allowing them to intervene in shallow waters, and this change should be coming.'
