‘Safe’ routes to be opened for 20,000 migrants a year
UP TO 20,000 migrants could be offered a new “safe and legal” route to the UK every year as Tory moderates are set to force a climbdown from the Government.
Ministers are finalising plans for thousands of migrants annually to be offered a new home in Britain as part of a scheme developed in partnership with the UN’S refugee agency.
It comes as the Prime Minister attempts to quell multiple rebellions by backbench MPS over his Illegal Migration Bill. A group of Conservatives, led by Tim Loughton MP, are calling for a new safe and legal route to be introduced as part of the Bill.
Mr Loughton’s amendment, which is backed by several Tory MPS, is also understood to have the support of Labour, meaning it could inflict a severe defeat on the Government if they pressed ahead with it.
The UK has safe and legal routes for people to enter the UK from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong as well as refugee family reunion visas and a more general resettlement scheme. But Tory moderates argue that these do not go far enough and initiatives to bring migrants over must be enacted as part of the “stop the boats” Bill.
The rebels believe Mr Sunak is poised to back down and announce the new “global” safe and legal route. This could be announced as a commitment by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, as early as today or it could be introduced as part of the Bill when it is debated in Parliament.
Under the plans, MPS would vote on an annual cap of refugees after local authorities are consulted about how much capacity they have to house migrants. It is thought to be about 20,000 per year, initially. Mr Loughton said that if ministers were to launch the new global scheme, it would be a welcome move that would “fill the gap” that exists under current arrangements.
The Home Office said that nothing has been decided, while Downing Street declined to comment.
Ministers are understood to be anxious that opening the route for refugees without reducing migrant numbers would be perceived as a weakening of the Government’s immigration policy and could be unpopular with the public.
Mr Sunak has previously said he would not announce any new routes until he has “got a grip” on illegal migration and brought down the number of migrant crossings in the Channel.
Mr Loughton, who sits on the home affairs select committee, said this “just
won’t wash”, adding that the new safe and legal routes “need to be in place before the legislation comes into force”.
Just under 500,000 people have come to the UK under safe and legal routes between 2015 and December 2022, according to Home Office figures.
This includes 233,770 visas issued to Ukrainians and 153,708 handed to people from Hong Kong.
A separate safe and legal route exists for people fleeing from Afghanistan, which aims to resettle up to 20,000 people over the next few years.
But a House of Commons Library report from January found that just 6,300 people were resettled in the UK following the summer 2021 evacuation.
Meanwhile, Mr Sunak faces a separate challenge from MPS on the Right of the party who are demanding that the Bill is strengthened to ensure migrants cannot use the appeals system to block deportation flights.
Ms Braverman is in talks with up to 60 Conservative MPS who are attempting to strip Strasbourg of the ability to interfere with Britain’s immigration policy.
Ministers may agree to block the use of a mechanism used by the European Court of Human Rights to ground flights to Rwanda.
It would mean migrants who arrive in the UK illegally could be deported even if they challenge the Government under human rights law.
Danny Kruger, one of the leading MPS behind the move, has been invited to Downing Street for talks this morning in an eleventh hour attempt to see off the rebellion.
“None of us want to make trouble for the Government but we haven’t yet got the Bill to a place it needs to be,” he said.