Robert Jenrick is Minister for Immigration, and is MP for Newark.
The rise in dangerous and illegal small boat crossings is a gravely serious situation – and one that I have been working to tackle alongside the Home Secretary.
Quite rightly, the public demand and expect to see change. They want us to deal with illegal migration once and for all.
The present situation is not fair on the British people; it is not fair on the people who come here legally; and, as we have seen, it is also lethally dangerous for those who put their lives in the hands of criminals.
The tragic loss of life we witnessed last week was a reminder of the depravity of the people smuggling gangs we are up against. The conditions in the Channel last week were treacherous, but the criminal gangs had no qualms launching a flimsy boat crammed with people off into the night. As we also saw in the horrific incident in November last year, each crossing they orchestrate is a tragedy waiting to happen.
The reality is that nobody should risk their lives making illegal, dangerous and unnecessary journeys to the UK.
There are some that argue that we could stop the crossings if only we offered more safe and legal routes. And yet the illegal crossings have grown in number as we have increased the availability of these routes. Since 2015, we have offered refuge to more people through our resettlement schemes than any other European country, and second only to the US and Canada.
Those fleeing war and persecution in Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan have all been welcomed into the UK, and we have worked with the UNHCR to identify those in genuine need in conflict zones around the world through our refugee resettlement programmes. Welcome though these individuals are, the sheer numbers of arrivals have stretched this country’s finite resources to the very limit.
In a world in which there are 100 million displaced people and individuals are more mobile than ever before, it is fanciful to assume that an increase in the number of safe and legal routes would meaningfully reduce the demand for the services of people smugglers. Those promulgating this argument are, in effect, simply calling for freedom of movement by other means.
The vast numbers of people around the world who are displaced amounts to a global migration crisis, for which the global asylum framework has been rendered obsolete. Innovative solutions and decisive actions are required to strengthen deterrence and end the abuse of the British people’s generosity.
That is why the UK’s ground-breaking migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda is more important than ever. Often Channel arrivals have already made an asylum claim elsewhere and, of course, all have arrived from a safe country.
As economic migrants continue to engage in ‘asylum shopping’ on the continent, our deal with Rwanda has the ingredients to break the business model of criminal gangs by relocating those that arrive here illegally to Rwanda to have their asylum claims considered there.
The High Court’s judgement earlier this week marks a major step forward in our plans to deter illegal migration and we are focused on moving ahead with the policy as soon as possible.
It means strengthening our policing of the Channel including through ever-closer cooperation with the French and other partners. Earlier this year, the Home Secretary signed the largest ever small boats deal with France to ensure our comprehensive intelligence picture is being acted upon swiftly. Significantly more boots are on the ground patrolling their beaches and, for the first time, UK and French officers are embedded in respective operations in Dover and northern France.
Last week, the Prime Minister set out in detail a package of measures we will be taking forward to tackle the illegal crossings and deter people from making the perilous crossing.
Despite the fact that Albania is plainly a safe country, this year it has provided the largest cohort by nationality of small boat arrivals. This cannot continue, so we are changing our approach to issue new guidance to caseworkers to make it crystal clear Albania is a safe country, and reforming of the modern slavery process to close the loopholes that are being unfairly exploited.
It is in no one’s interests for cases to take months or even years to conclude asylum decision making, so we are re-engineering the end-to-end process with shorter guidance, fewer interviews and less paperwork to drive efficiency gains and cut down processing times from months to weeks.
We are fortunate to have an outstanding operational capability in this country and I am grateful to all those who are working tirelessly to prevent the crossings and disrupt the criminals behind them. It is vital that we give them the resources they need to carry out their crucial work, and that’s why we are adding more than 700 new staff and doubling the funding given to the NCA for tackling organised immigration crime in Europe. This extra resource will free up immigration officers to go back to enforcement, which will, in turn, enable us to increase raids on illegal working and bear down on those working in the black economy.
But the reform our asylum system alone will not suffice; our laws need fundamental reform too. As the Prime Minister set out last week, in the new year the Home Secretary and I will take through new legislation that makes it unequivocally clear that if you enter the UK illegally, you should not be able to remain here.
Those intent on cheating the system will no longer be able to frustrate removals with late or spurious claims, and once removed, there will be no right to re-entry, settlement or citizenship. We will focus our limited resources on targeted resettlement schemes, of which we are now a world leader, with an annual quota set in Parliament that reflects our actual capacity and which can be adjusted in response to humanitarian disasters.
Illegal immigration is a complex challenge and that is why the Prime Minister, Home Secretary and I have designed a wide-ranging package to address this problem from all angles. Tackling the problem will not be quick nor easy. But as we enter an age of mass migration that risks eroding our sovereignty and the social fabric of society, future-proofing our system is undoubtedly the right thing to do.
We recognise that words are no longer enough – it is action that is needed, and that is what we are determined to deliver in the year ahead.
Robert Jenrick is Minister for Immigration, and is MP for Newark.
The rise in dangerous and illegal small boat crossings is a gravely serious situation – and one that I have been working to tackle alongside the Home Secretary.
Quite rightly, the public demand and expect to see change. They want us to deal with illegal migration once and for all.
The present situation is not fair on the British people; it is not fair on the people who come here legally; and, as we have seen, it is also lethally dangerous for those who put their lives in the hands of criminals.
The tragic loss of life we witnessed last week was a reminder of the depravity of the people smuggling gangs we are up against. The conditions in the Channel last week were treacherous, but the criminal gangs had no qualms launching a flimsy boat crammed with people off into the night. As we also saw in the horrific incident in November last year, each crossing they orchestrate is a tragedy waiting to happen.
The reality is that nobody should risk their lives making illegal, dangerous and unnecessary journeys to the UK.
There are some that argue that we could stop the crossings if only we offered more safe and legal routes. And yet the illegal crossings have grown in number as we have increased the availability of these routes. Since 2015, we have offered refuge to more people through our resettlement schemes than any other European country, and second only to the US and Canada.
Those fleeing war and persecution in Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan have all been welcomed into the UK, and we have worked with the UNHCR to identify those in genuine need in conflict zones around the world through our refugee resettlement programmes. Welcome though these individuals are, the sheer numbers of arrivals have stretched this country’s finite resources to the very limit.
In a world in which there are 100 million displaced people and individuals are more mobile than ever before, it is fanciful to assume that an increase in the number of safe and legal routes would meaningfully reduce the demand for the services of people smugglers. Those promulgating this argument are, in effect, simply calling for freedom of movement by other means.
The vast numbers of people around the world who are displaced amounts to a global migration crisis, for which the global asylum framework has been rendered obsolete. Innovative solutions and decisive actions are required to strengthen deterrence and end the abuse of the British people’s generosity.
That is why the UK’s ground-breaking migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda is more important than ever. Often Channel arrivals have already made an asylum claim elsewhere and, of course, all have arrived from a safe country.
As economic migrants continue to engage in ‘asylum shopping’ on the continent, our deal with Rwanda has the ingredients to break the business model of criminal gangs by relocating those that arrive here illegally to Rwanda to have their asylum claims considered there.
The High Court’s judgement earlier this week marks a major step forward in our plans to deter illegal migration and we are focused on moving ahead with the policy as soon as possible.
It means strengthening our policing of the Channel including through ever-closer cooperation with the French and other partners. Earlier this year, the Home Secretary signed the largest ever small boats deal with France to ensure our comprehensive intelligence picture is being acted upon swiftly. Significantly more boots are on the ground patrolling their beaches and, for the first time, UK and French officers are embedded in respective operations in Dover and northern France.
Last week, the Prime Minister set out in detail a package of measures we will be taking forward to tackle the illegal crossings and deter people from making the perilous crossing.
Despite the fact that Albania is plainly a safe country, this year it has provided the largest cohort by nationality of small boat arrivals. This cannot continue, so we are changing our approach to issue new guidance to caseworkers to make it crystal clear Albania is a safe country, and reforming of the modern slavery process to close the loopholes that are being unfairly exploited.
It is in no one’s interests for cases to take months or even years to conclude asylum decision making, so we are re-engineering the end-to-end process with shorter guidance, fewer interviews and less paperwork to drive efficiency gains and cut down processing times from months to weeks.
We are fortunate to have an outstanding operational capability in this country and I am grateful to all those who are working tirelessly to prevent the crossings and disrupt the criminals behind them. It is vital that we give them the resources they need to carry out their crucial work, and that’s why we are adding more than 700 new staff and doubling the funding given to the NCA for tackling organised immigration crime in Europe. This extra resource will free up immigration officers to go back to enforcement, which will, in turn, enable us to increase raids on illegal working and bear down on those working in the black economy.
But the reform our asylum system alone will not suffice; our laws need fundamental reform too. As the Prime Minister set out last week, in the new year the Home Secretary and I will take through new legislation that makes it unequivocally clear that if you enter the UK illegally, you should not be able to remain here.
Those intent on cheating the system will no longer be able to frustrate removals with late or spurious claims, and once removed, there will be no right to re-entry, settlement or citizenship. We will focus our limited resources on targeted resettlement schemes, of which we are now a world leader, with an annual quota set in Parliament that reflects our actual capacity and which can be adjusted in response to humanitarian disasters.
Illegal immigration is a complex challenge and that is why the Prime Minister, Home Secretary and I have designed a wide-ranging package to address this problem from all angles. Tackling the problem will not be quick nor easy. But as we enter an age of mass migration that risks eroding our sovereignty and the social fabric of society, future-proofing our system is undoubtedly the right thing to do.
We recognise that words are no longer enough – it is action that is needed, and that is what we are determined to deliver in the year ahead.