Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing irregular migrants to make applications for asylum whilst still residing in (a) France and (b) Belgium.

The UK has a proud record of providing protection for those who need it. However, there is no provision within our Immigration Rules for someone to be allowed to travel to the UK to seek asylum or temporary refuge. Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, the capacity of the UK is not unlimited, and we could not possibly consider protection claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. Those in need of immediate protection should take the fastest route to safety and claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

There are several powerful reasons why allowing migrants to make applications for asylum from France and Belgium is not a viable option and could actually lead to adverse consequences.

The responsibility for asylum seekers and refugees lies with the authorities of the country in which they are present in accordance with their international obligations – in this case France and Belgium. EU countries operate the Common European Asylum System; a framework of rules and procedures based on the full and inclusive application of the Refugee Convention. The aim of this system is not just to ensure fair and humane treatment of applicants for international protection, but also to discourage secondary movements of people once they have reached safety, acknowledging the many problems that such movements create. There is therefore no reason why an individual who is residing in France or Belgium and who needs protection should not make their claim in France or Belgium and certainly no reasons why they should make the perilous onward journey to the UK. France and Belgium are both safe countries, so the protection they seek is already available to them.

The UK processing asylum claims in France and Belgium would also have the potential to create more harm, and actually support the smugglers. Dangerous journeys and the work of the despicable smugglers are not just confined to routes across the Channel. Vulnerable people, if they have an incentive to aim for France or Belgium as a means of entering the UK, would be encouraged to make dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean and over land to France and Belgium. It would create a new pull factor, motivating people to again entrust themselves to smugglers. Even where they may avoid the danger of a small boat, we know from heart breaking experience that journeys over land, for example in the back of lorries, can be equally as perilous. We cannot, and must not, do anything which supports the smugglers’ business model.

Our focus is on helping people directly from regions of conflict and instability, and we believe that our resettlement programmes are the best way to provide much needed support. Between 2015 and September 2023, over half a million people were offered safe and legal routes into the UK.