Patel demands EU stops smugglers to save migrant lives
PRITI Patel yesterday demanded European countries do more to prevent asylum seekers falling into the hands of deadly smuggling gangs.
The Home Secretary warned that unless greater action is taken “people will continue to die”.
It comes as the Home Office released its New Immigration Plan yesterday.
The proposal states people who arrive in the UK illegally will not be able to remain indefinitely.
Ms Patel said “serious organised criminal gangs” were exploiting those trying to get to the UK.
She said it is these same gangs who are also involved in “serious violent crimes” such as trafficking guns and drugs.
Persecuted
The Home Secretary said: “Families and young children have lost their lives at sea, in lorries and in shipping containers, having put their trust in the hands of criminals.
“The way to stop these deaths is to stop the trade in people that causes them.”
Under the new plan, anyone who pays criminal gangs to bring them to the UK would only ever receive temporary permission to remain for a maximum of 30 months and would be regularly assessed for deportation.
Ms Patel also confirmed illegal migrants will not be placed in hotel rooms and will instead be put in reception centres.
She said: “We are a compassionate nation, and we stand by everything that we do when it comes to providing humanity and protection to individuals that are being persecuted. Our international counterparts and European Union member states also need to do more.
“Until they do, people will continue to die and this is a collective responsibility that we all have.
“We are speaking to EU member states right now and having negotiations.
“If you illegally enter the UK via a safe country in which you could have claimed asylum, you are not seeking refuge from imminent peril, as is the intended purpose of the asylum system, but are picking the UK as a preferred destination over others.”
The Home Office argued that “fairness” and a genuine need for refuge are at the heart of the new proposals, as well as including measures to tackle people smugglers and “remove more easily from the UK those with no right to be there”.
A key part of the Home Office’s plan is to destroy the business model of the people smuggling gangs.
Criminals promise migrants they will be able to stay in the UK if they reach British shores, it was said. This is why the Government is removing “indefinite leave to remain” if someone arrives illegally, sources said.
Ms Patel added: “This plan marks a step change in our approach as we toughen our stance to deter illegal entry and the criminals that endanger life by enabling it.”