Keir Starmer Under Fire As EU Summit Erupts with 3 Urgent Demands to Stop Channel Crossings Migrants
EU leaders are arriving in London today for a very important meeting, and many campaigners, especially from the Refugee Council, are calling on them to take urgent action to deal with the growing number of dangerous small boat crossings in the English Channel. They believe Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to push for serious changes during the talks.
This year alone, at least 11 people have died trying to make the journey across the Channel in small, unsafe boats. Over 12,000 people have already arrived in the UK this way. These are men, women, and children who are risking everything to escape violence, war, or poverty in their home countries. Many of them are coming from places like Sudan, where war has forced families to flee for their lives.
The Refugee Council says the UK government’s current way of handling the problem is simply not working. Right now, the focus is mostly on enforcement – using tough measures to stop people from coming. While it’s important to go after criminal gangs who make money by putting people in danger, the charity says this alone is not enough. The number of crossings continues to rise, and desperate people are still dying. Jon Featonby, a top expert at the Refugee Council, said that nobody would choose to risk their life on a flimsy boat unless they were running from something much worse than what they might face at sea.
The Refugee Council’s new report is asking leaders to come up with a better plan. They are calling for safe and legal ways for people to travel to the UK if they need to seek asylum. This includes routes that allow families to reunite and stay together. They also suggest that if someone has already applied for asylum in another EU country and their case is still being looked at, then that person should be sent back there to finish the process.
Another part of the report says that the UK should agree to join a “solidarity system” with the EU. This would mean that the UK helps other countries that are struggling to deal with large numbers of asylum seekers. Right now, some countries are overwhelmed and can’t handle all the cases on their own, so the idea is to share the responsibility more fairly across Europe.
Mr. Featonby added that the rising number of small boat crossings shows the UK needs a new approach. Instead of relying only on strict enforcement, the government should work closely with other countries and provide safe, legal options for people to seek help. This would save lives, reduce the power of criminal gangs, and make the asylum system fairer and more effective for everyone.
