The government’s plans for the Illegal Migration Bill – which would see virtually all people arriving outside formal, legal channels deported – has raised many uncomfortable questions. Is a trafficked Romanian girl sold into sex slavery in Britain really exempt from protection under the Modern Slavery Act? Would an Iranian gay man, afraid for his life, showing up in a UK airport with forged papers really be sent back out again?
The government’s blanket approach to all ‘illegal’ migrants has, curiously enough, completely obscured how the UK will respond to genuine human rights abuses. Or perhaps it hasn’t: as the details come out, we may discover that these victims are being forced down the priority list in pursuit of a short-term political agenda.
We know these problems are solvable. It’s political will that’s standing in the way
Either way, I suspect the small boats will keep coming. I also suspect we will see people try out even more dangerous ways of coming into the UK. More women will hand over their passports to strangers to get them over the border. The fees paid to the smugglers are likely to rise. After all, the more dangerous the task at hand, the more people will demand higher compensation.
Why will people still attempt to come to the UK? Because, for all the changes the UK government is making to its legislation, nothing will have circumstantially changed for the people trying to come to Britain. In many cases, these will be people fleeing for their lives – willing to risk everything, willing to make any sacrifice to come here.
It’s fair to note that not everyone coming here will be an asylum seeker: for many, the motivation will be an economic one, a desire to become more prosperous. They won’t be diverted either. Britain’s laws will have become harsher, the chances of being able to stay once here may be slimmer. But if you are willing to climb into the back of a freezing van, or willing to get into a plastic boat, putting your life at risk to come to the UK, you have already looked at some pretty grim odds and figured it’s worth the shot. That the Home Office will try to deport you within 28 days of arrival is going to be a fairly small factor on the list.
Conservatives, more than most other groups, should understand this. It is a core tenet of the philosophy: that individuals are naturally and intensely driven to pursue a better life, both for themselves and for their families. Conservatives know there is no stopping that kind of drive, and in almost all circumstances they wouldn’t want to. The people (and the party) that claim to represent entrepreneurship, free enterprise, risk and the thrill of success cannot pretend that they are suddenly indifferent – or even hostile – to such concepts, simply because the word ‘foreigner’ enters the mix.
This does not mean one has to embrace ‘open borders’ or reject the concept of nationhood in order to stay consistent. (No one really believes in the binary choice of ‘abolish borders’ or ‘deport refugees.’ That’s political simplification at its worst). Criminal activity should not be tolerated, which is why it is important for countries to have records of who is coming in. So of course it’s important to address the small boats coming across the Channel, not least because those journeys are dangerous, but also because people reaching Britain’s beaches, grateful to be alive, is not a credible alternative to a functioning asylum or immigration system.
But so long as legal pathways to Britain only exist for people earning over £25,600 a year (there is currently no legal pathway for asylum seekers or most low-skilled migrants), this will continue to be the country’s de facto immigration policy. The billions of pounds thrown at deporting those who come here will act as a very expensive bandage for the completely broken system, which takes years to process applications and struggles to house and care for them (in part, because we deny refugees the right, and dignity, of working and earning money while they wait).
We know these problems are solvable. It’s political will that’s standing in the way. The schemes designed for Ukrainians and the Hong Kong Chinese – done quickly and under pressure – have proved successful. But there is no appetite on the right to think past these specific groups of people, or to create a scheme that might enable the world’s most targeted people to find safe haven in the UK, without suffering additional pain and risk getting here.
The Ronald Reagan school of thought on migration – a fervent belief that most people who desperately want to come to your country will make both themselves, and their neighbours, more prosperous – has all but vanished amongst the political right in countries like the US and the UK. Not even Labour wants to resuscitate it. I keep hoping it will emerge, ideally out of moral duty, but if not, then out of necessity: the crackdowns on low-skilled immigration to Britain is already proving economically detrimental, as the UK’s labour market continues to suffer from an undersupply of workers.
Call me naive – but it’s nothing compared to the naivety currently on display on Tory right. Their new bill isn’t going to stop refugees, asylum seekers, or economic migrants from trying to come to Britain. And Tories, of all people, should understand why.
Comments