The grimly familiar sight of body bags being unloaded from search and rescue boats was witnessed again by the reporters on the shores of Northern France on Tuesday. And again, ministers from both the UK and French governments expressed their horror at another mass drowning of people trying to reach the UK.
The charities that work closely with asylum seekers say that the policies of both governments may be inadvertently increasing the number of deaths of people seeking safety in the UK.
NGOs and Labour figures such as Alf Dubs have said that the reason that so many people fleeing war and torture are coming to the UK by small boats – including those from Syria, Sudan and Iran – is because there are no viable alternatives.
The Labour government, just weeks into its tenure, has introduced immigration policies that have been broadly supported by progressive institutions. Keir Starmer has abandoned the plan to send asylum seekersto Rwanda – a plan which is estimated to have cost the taxpayer £700m. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has announced plans to reduce the backlog and process applications, which will bring down the numbers of asylum seekers stuck in hotels – popular initiatives with the public.
But there are growing concerns that Starmer’s reluctance to announce “safe routes” into the UK while also pledging more police activity across Europe will force refugees into more dangerous crossings.
Increased UK spending into French security over several years has “militarised” the coastline. Cameras installed on beaches, night vision equipment and drones are used to stop boats from being launched from accessible beaches.
A joint commitment of £476m over three years, signed in 2023, will mean that the amount of UK cash being spent on security along the coast will increase each year. In 2025/26, the UK will hand over £184m.
Cooper has also announced a new border security commander and the recruitment of more investigators, experts and analysts based across Europe, working with Europol and European national police forces.
In such circumstances, desperate asylum seekers seeking refuge in the UK have little choice other than to take greater risks, charity workers say. They are launching from more remote beaches away from the police, committing to longer journeys, and are more likely to die at sea.
Steven Smith, the CEO of Care4Calais, one of the organisations working on the French coast, says the only way to stop people using small boats is to introduce safe ways of applying for asylum in the UK.
“Every political leader, on both sides of our Channel, needs to be asked how many lives will be lost before they end these avoidable tragedies?
“Their continued obsession [with] and investment in security measures is not reducing crossings is simply pushing people to take ever increasing risks to do so.
“Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome is political lunacy. It’s time politicians were held accountable for their choice to dehumanise people seeking sanctuary from horrors back home. It’s time they ended these tragedies and introduced safe routes.”
An expert in migration says that there is a lack of direct evidence that securitisation is a key factor behind tragedies.
Dr Peter Walsh, senior researcher at Oxford’s university’s Migration Observatory, said: “The high number of deaths this year is likely to have resulted from a range of factors, including – importantly – the greater numbers of people travelling in each boat. The UK has invested a lot of money in immigration enforcement in France, with government statements indicating that some of this money has been spent on a beefed-up security apparatus, including new drones, boats, land-based radar and cameras.
“At the moment, it is not clear whether this investment has deterred people from making risky journeys or whether it has led to smugglers setting boats on longer and more dangerous routes across the Channel.”
