Britain has led the way on migration

Human trafficking is a multi-billion-pound global industry. It is fuelled by the desperation of migrants seeking a better life and the cynicism of those who are now adept at identifying and exploiting loopholes in western border controls.

As ever larger waves of migrants cross the Mediterranean, Rishi Sunak has told European leaders that their efforts at policing illegal migration are ‘not working’ – because there is no shortage of poor people willing to pay smugglers for their ‘barbaric enterprise’. He has raised difficult questions about how the rich discharge their duty to the poor in a world with about 100 million displaced people. The old postwar settlement is utterly unfit for the new global dynamics of migration flows.

Taking in more legal refugees and deporting those who arrive illegally would break the people traffickers’ model and, as Britain’s experience with Albania shows, that works. People would not pay £5,000 to travel to the United Kingdom if there was a realistic chance of ending up in Rwanda. The Rwanda plan is an imperfect and in many ways cruel solution, but it is less cruel than allowing thousands to drown in the sea or to start journeys which may result in them being in hock to gang-masters.

This week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emerged from a marathon negotiation with the heads of Germany’s states to come up with a new deal intended to cut illegal migration. One of the proposals is to explore copy-ing part of the British model, and process asylum applicants in other countries. Denmark is already exploring this. The Sunak model – based on Australia’s success in fighting people-smuggling – is taking off.

Last week, the Austrian government signed an agreement to co-operate with the UK government on the offshore processing of asylum applicants.