EU Action Plan Against Migrant Smuggling (EUC Report)

Earl of Sandwich Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Sandwich (CB)]

My Lords, the scope of these two reports extends almost beyond our imagination, over new horizons. As we approach the referendum, despairing Eurosceptics are playing on the Napoleonic fears of some of our citizens that we are going to be overrun by migrants and refugees and that, after Brexit, they must presumably rebuild pillboxes and checkpoints along our sea frontier. These absurd fears have not exactly surfaced in this debate, but they are present and are nevertheless real ones that we must address.

I can say from limited experience what while we may as world citizens be facing mass migration, this is not occurring or likely to occur in the United Kingdom, where we receive relatively small numbers, most of whom—as we have heard—are essential to our economy and our welfare. In my lifetime we have dealt with large-scale migration before, starting with the effects of the aftermath of war in Europe, then the migration from Communism, the Vietnamese boat people and, more recently, the vast numbers of migrants, refugees and those displaced in Africa. Let us not forget those who cannot cross frontiers: internally displaced people. There are 40.8 million displaced by conflict worldwide and, on top of that, 19.2 million were displaced by disasters last year alone. These figures come from the May issue of the excellent Forced Migration Review from Oxford.

It is often said in the media that the relief agencies cannot cope; the most recent example is the chaos along the Macedonian border. Of course, to begin with, nobody can cope, because of the unexpectedly large numbers. But host countries have to cope, and the United Nations agencies have been dealing with these emergencies for years. The scene will be messy and inadequate, especially in terms of sanitation but, in the end, the situation will stabilise and people will just about survive, although there are always serious deprivations, inequalities and grave breaches of human rights. A Greek farmer has apparently even fired on the Bangladeshi strawberry pickers whom he had himself recruited. Resettlement is desirable but an option only for the very few.

What is new to us is the surge of numbers across the Aegean and the Mediterranean. The refugees from Syria, we can expect, will be largely cared for in time. Refugees from north Africa have not had such a warm reception, and we are going to see more of them, but economic migrants from Africa pose a different problem. We in Europe will have to expect that, so long as our economies improve or remain stable and while their own countries are in turmoil, people will continue to come in search of freedom and prosperity; it is only natural.

Most of this pressure is hitting the UN agencies head on, especially the UNHCR and WFP. I have had a huge respect for the work of UNHCR ever since I visited refugee camps in various countries in the 1980s on behalf of Christian Aid. The staff are always highly committed, often performing remarkable tasks of improvisation to meet humanitarian need, yet they are always short of funds and never given the necessary resources by UN member Governments.

Appendix 6 of the report on the action plan is a letter from UNHCR to my noble friend Lady Prashar, saying that we need to,

“expand legal avenues for seeking protection”,

and have,

“enhanced resettlement, family reunification … and ‘refugee-friendly’ student and labour migration”,

visa schemes. Safe and legal routes for refugees are fully dealt with on pages 18 to 20 of the report, which, as my noble friend Lady Coussins mentioned, comes out with recommendations on the use of humanitarian visas and on resettlement and relocation schemes for migrants. However, it concludes that the EU is not doing nearly enough.

A lot has of course happened since the report was published in November, notably the Government’s own gateway resettlement scheme, which I am sure the Minister will mention, and the temporary fix of the EU’s exchange deal with Turkey, which I hope he will comment on. Both reports confirm the accepted view that the EU, while it has useful instruments such as Europol and FRONTEX, is not very good at resisting migration or even refugee movements. The muddles at Calais and in the Balkans seem to provide evidence of this. I think that it is because Schengen is failing the European Union and the nation states are, not surprisingly, reasserting themselves. My humble advice to the EU Commission would be to stick close to the United Nations and not create too many new initiatives. The EU also needs to proceed cautiously when it comes to stemming migration in Africa and the Middle East. As a Union, it has no particular mandate except in humanitarian situations, where its excellent agency, ECHO, has been active in many parts of the world.

Last week, we debated similar issues and I mentioned the relatively new Khartoum process by which the EU co-operates with north African countries. Under the Khartoum process, as I am sure the Minister knows, we have decided to get closer to authoritarian regimes such as the ones in Sudan and Egypt, as well as the more unstable ones such as in Libya. The idea is that we will help them to tackle smuggling and improve their policing methods at checkpoints and frontiers. That sounds good on a fine day but, remembering Somalia in particular, one wonders what will actually happen to the money invested and whether the EU can possibly exercise any control in such remote, divided and corrupt parts of the world. The noble Earl, Lord Oxford and Asquith, mentioned that, too.

The report on Operation Sophia provides a sober assessment: as long as there is need for asylum and demand from migrants, smuggling will continue to exist. It says in paragraph 136:

“'The EU needs governments … that it can work with. Therefore, building the resilience of these countries is critical”.

As the noble Lord, Lord Tugendhat, said, that is a very tall order, although an admirable aim. Most of us hold the view that international development has to be the ultimate insurance against conflict and emergency, but we are also aware that the conditions have to be right. For me, that implies good governance and the involvement of civil society throughout any project. We have many examples of eventual success through the EU, even in countries such as Somalia, but root causes are tackled not just by development aid and investment but by a range of policies, including diplomacy, foreign affairs, international trade and security.

Education is one fairly reliable route to good development. To conclude briefly on student visas in relation to migration—it is an old chestnut, I fear—the Minister will know that many of us cannot accept that students should be treated as immigrants. Three years ago, the PM made a reassuring statement to Indian students in Bombay, which was widely reported, yet the successful clampdown on bogus students also hit genuine colleges that had taken on some of those students and should not have been abruptly closed. The number of Asian students here has fallen drastically. Our universities have suffered because parents can no longer afford the high fees, even if they acquire temporary visas. Many students who would and should have come here have gone to alternative universities abroad. I expect and hope that this policy will be debated again and again in this House.