Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the results of existing initiatives to deter irregular Channel crossings; and in any such assessment, what consideration they have given to alternative approaches whereby potential asylum seekers have their asylum applications considered before arrival in the UK.

The UK has a proud record of providing protection for people who need it, in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. Our work to deter and stop irregular Channel crossings is dependent on a range of interventions, and the cumulative impact of these. There is no single silver bullet and seeing impact overall will take time. We carefully monitor impact, including through regularly published migration statistics

Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we are not bound to consider asylum claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come here. The UK provides safe and legal routes through the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Mandate Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship and the Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme. Following the Ukraine crisis, we also introduced the Ukraine Family Scheme (UFS), and the Homes for Ukraine (HFU) Scheme. We also have additional safe and legal routes for people to come to the UK should they wish to join family members here, work or study. This commitment, alongside a fair and firm asylum system, will ensure we continue to offer safe and legal routes to the UK for those in need of protection. Our focus will remain on helping individuals directly from regions of conflict and instability.