“Braverman must reset Britain’s refugee policy”

In a Times Red Box piece, RAMP’s Principal Baroness Stroud and Refugee Council’s Chief Executive Enver Solomon call for the Home Secretary to rethink UK refugee policy and move from reacting to crises to develop a longer-term vision focussed on welcoming refugees in a well-managed manner.

Please see here for the full article and keep reading for a summary below:

To develop this policy, they argue, three main myths that underpin the UK public discourse on asylum and refugee issues need to be challenged. First, whilst coming from different perspectives on wider migration policy, Philippa Stroud and Enver Solomon agree that welcoming refugees and giving them a fair hearing cannot be conflated with the government’s response to economic migration.

Second, they consider current deterrence policies that aim to discourage people from crossing the Channel, such as the Rwanda deal, as too costly, likely to undermine the global system of refugee protection and ultimately ineffective in reducing dangerous journeys. Instead, they argue that better cooperation with France in countering smugglers, agreements with other European countries to review people’s asylum cases before they arrive to Britain and creating safe routes from both within, and outside, Europe are key elements of a more effective and sustainable policy solution.

Third, they believe that clearing the current asylum backlog is key to challenge the perception that the government is unable to manage the current caseload in safely and cost-effective way - as seen by the public reaction to the use of hotels for asylum seekers’ and refugees’ accommodation.

Challenging these myths is key to reset asylum and refugee policy in the UK and to address these issues in a more solution-focussed and less divisive way.