‘Braverman’s rhetoric is chilling. Labour must unequivocally support refugees’

This rotten Tory government is in its death throes. In a desperate attempt to cling to power, it’s plumbing new depths over its shameful treatment of refugees.

Desperate men, women and children crossing the Channel are being scapegoated and blamed for the government’s failings. Refugees should instead be welcomed with open arms, and that starts with a Safe Passage visa scheme.

Thousands of refugees are attempting the channel crossing every year and with each journey, the risk to life is immense. We’ve already seen the deadly consequences, with nearly 50 people having died since 2021. The most recent of which came in August, when at least six people died when their boat capsized. These deaths are a human tragedy that’s hard to comprehend and what’s more, they’re totally preventable.

A safe passage visa policy could prevent human tragedy

In November last year, alongside Care4Calais, we launched our Safe Passage visa policy in parliament. The scheme would allow a person in Europe to obtain a visa, for travel only, to enter the UK and then go through the normal asylum process. We were just as clear when we launched the policy as we are now that this was the best and only way to stop the boats and save lives.

A similar scheme was put in place following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and not a single Ukrainian refugee has got on a small boat or drowned in the Channel. The government rightly accepted thousands of Ukrainian refugees and it should be doing the same for others. Anything less is putting lives at risk.

Safe passage is needed more than ever, with people still crossing and people still dying, and their suffering is being used as collateral damage by the government. The issue of small boat crossings has dominated the political conversation in recent years and this government is deliberately stoking up divisions to distract from their disastrous track record. And it’s refugees who pay the price.

The government is lurching from one policy to the next, in an attempt to dehumanise refugees rather than stopping the crossings. Firstly, it attempted to implement dangerous and unlawful pushback manoeuvres. I’m immensely proud that my union, PCS, and Care4Calais used the threat of legal action to force the government to abandon the policy.

Secondly, it announced its intention to deport refugees to Rwanda, a brutal initiative subject to litigation which has already cost the taxpayer more than £140 million. And thirdly, it announced yet another deal with the French government at a cost of £63 million to the taxpayer which is unlikely to have any discernible impact in stopping the crossings.

The signs aren’t encouraging Labour will do the right thing

Nothing has worked and alarmingly, the government is doubling down on its anti-refugee rhetoric. The speech from Home Secretary Suella Braverman at the Tory conference last week was chilling. Many have drawn a comparison with Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech and Braverman’s words have been celebrated by fascist and right-wing groups. In the face of such frightening language, we need to be resolute in our defence of refugees, and this includes the Labour Party.

We will be at the Labour Party conference this week to publicise the safe passage policy, with a fringe event jointly hosted by LabourList and PCS. With Labour on the cusp of power, people will be looking to them to do the right thing, but the signs so far aren’t encouraging. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper failed to call out the racist language in Suella Braverman’s speech and Labour’s returns agreement proposal will not stop people crossing.

Our safe passage policy can be implemented quickly, as it utilises existing vias centres across Europe. And we know it will work, the Ukrainian scheme shows that. Simply put, nothing other than safe passage will stop people from risking their lives in the Channel.

There is so much at stake to not get this right. The treatment of refugees will be a pivotal issue at the general election and Labour needs to be bold enough to be unequivocal in its support for them.

Under international law, claiming asylum is not illegal and anyone has the right to apply for asylum in a country that has signed the 1951 Convention on Human Rights. That’s why Labour shouldn’t dive in the gutter with this Tory government when it talks of illegal migrants. We also need a commitment to give the Home Office the resources it needs to clear the backlog.

It’s been demonstrated time and again that there is a viable alternative to the government’s callous response. Safe Passage Visas is that alternative and it’s one that reduces the risk to life, breaks the people smugglers’ business model and treats human beings with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Join us for ‘Safe Passage – an effective and humane way to stop the boats’

Tuesday, 10 – 11am / Meeting Room 21, ACC Liverpool / with Lord Vernon Coaker, Clare Moseley (Care4Calais), Paul O’Connor (PCS), Emma Rose (NEU), Riccardo la Torre (FBU), Tom Belger (LabourList)

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