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Suella Braverman has insisted the Government will “put an end to these crossings” after confirming four people died when their small boat capsized in the Channel.
The UK’s home secretary said she would set up “safe and legal routes” for asylum seekers only after dealing with the small boat crisis, amid calls from MPs for new routes to apply for refugee status.
Braverman addressed the House of Commons on Wednesday after a damaged ship was rescued off the coast of Kent after leaving France for the UK with dozens of people on board.
In a somber chamber, she said: “These are the days we dread. Crossing the Channel in unequipped ships is a deadly risky endeavor. This is why we are working so hard to destroy the business model of people smugglers, vicious, organized criminals who treat human beings as cargo.
Referring to the deaths of 27 people in the channel last November, Braverman said Wednesday’s tragedy served as a “sober reminder” of why the crossing had to be closed. She added that she had spoken with her French counterpart, France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin.
Opening her statement on the incident to the channel, Braverman said: “This is an ongoing search-and-rescue incident but I can tragically confirm four casualties while making this statement.”
“This morning’s tragedy, like the one that killed 27 people on one November day last year, is the starkest reminder yet of why ending this crossing is possible.”
Some survivors were still “fighting for their lives” in hospital and some of the survivors were women and children, MPs were told.
Under UK law, refugee charities have said, a person must be in the UK if they claim asylum unless they qualify for one of a handful of concessional routes. With no visas to reach the UK so they can apply, many claimants are forced to travel by small boat.
In the past year, 85,902 people made conventional asylum applications after arriving in the UK, but only 1,391 were resettled in the UK through resettlement schemes.
Asked by the Scottish National Party’s Alison Thewlis about the lack of safe and legal alternatives to Channel boat crossings, and urging them to be brought in now rather than “at some vague point in the future”, Braverman said: “I strongly oppose the suggestion that our system is somehow inadequate. is
Braverman said the five-point plan announced by Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, which includes a plan to decriminalize and deport people traveling to the UK by small boat and employ more people to reduce a backlog of around 150,000 claims. A small boat will help end the crisis.
She told the Commons: “We will extend safe and legal routes when we tackle the horrific people-smuggling gangs that are putting people’s lives at risk, as we have seen this morning.”
A Tory MP appeared to suggest migrants crossing the Channel “voluntarily put themselves at risk” as he called on the Home Secretary to act on a Rwanda plan to tackle criminal gangs.
Dudley North MP Marco Longhi said: “Let’s remember this: these are people who voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way, and criminal gangs will disappear if services are demanded. When will the Home Secretary work on the Rwanda plan?
Braverman replied: “As he knows, I believe in the groundbreaking partnership the United Kingdom has with Rwanda.”
In response to the statement, Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the UK and French governments and authorities were failing to crack down on criminals and smuggling and trafficking gangs.
“They need to be caught, they need to be prosecuted, they need to be jailed for losing their lives in the cold sea. We need comprehensive measures.
“Criminal gangs are responsible for the lives lost in the Channel,” she said, but added: “We need action before more people are lost at sea”.
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