MP, Labour's Shadow Home
Secretary, commenting on the Illegal Immigration Bill
passing through its final stage in parliament, said:
"This new law is a con which will only make the Tories’ asylum
chaos worse. It fails to tackle the criminal smuggler gangs
and makes it easier for traffickers. And it cancels asylum
decision making with no return agreements in place so it will
just increase the asylum backlog with even more people in costly
hotels.
"Time and again, they voted against proposals from Labour to go
after the smuggler gangs, and rejected amendments supported by
former Tory leaders against modern slavery and the detention of
children. They have lost all common sense and decency.
" is failing to deliver on his
pledge or fix the Tories' boats chaos. The asylum backlog is a
record high, the number of people in hotels is still increasing,
the Rwanda plan is unravelling and June boat crossings were
higher than last year. Just like last year’s Tory immigration
bill, this new law is set to make things worse. Labour has set
out a clear five point plan including action on criminal
smuggler gangs, clearing the asylum backlog and getting a new
returns agreement with Europe."
Ends
Notes:
Labour’s five-point plan to reform the asylum system:
-
Crackdown on criminal smuggler gangs, through new
Cross-Border Police Unit
A Labour Government would redirect spending from the unworkable
Rwanda scheme, which the government has admitted is subject to a
very high risk of fraud, to set up a new cross-border police unit
to crack down on smuggling gangs. This would include millions of
pounds of new investment in the NCA. Officers would be based in
the UK and throughout Europe to tackle the gangs upstream. This
would be supported with an urgent review to identify the gaps in
enforcement against smuggling gangs, with the findings used to
lay out an Action Plan to be delivered by the NCA and Border
Force, in collaboration with international allies and Europol.
-
Clear the backlog and end hotel use
The Home Office is taking 9,000 fewer asylum decisions a year
than they were in 2015, leaving people waiting in limbo for much
longer and pushing up accommodation costs. Fast tracking cases
for Albania and other safe countries, introducing triage and
restoring proper casework standards and targets will mean quicker
support for those who are refugees, much quicker returns for
those who are not, and stopping costly hotel use.
-
Reform resettlement routes to stop people being
exploited by gangs
Labour would redesign the existing resettlement schemes which are
not currently working properly so that they include a clearer
process for refugees with family connections in the UK to be
considered for resettlement, preventing them being exploited by
criminal gangs or making dangerous journeys.
-
New agreement with France and other countries on
returns and family reunion
Labour would negotiate a new agreement which includes safe
returns and safe family reunions.
-
Tackle humanitarian crises at source helping refugees
in their region
Labour would work in partnership internationally to address some
of the humanitarian crises that are leading people to flee their
homes including restoring the 0.7% aid commitment when the fiscal
situation allows and strengthening support for the people of
Afghanistan, currently the largest group trying to cross the
Channel.
