39 people found dead in lorry container
We are horrified to hear of the deaths of 39 vulnerable and exploited people but not surprised. The lack of safe and legal routes for people to apply for asylum means that every day people who are simply seeking safety undertake dangerous journeys.
In order to claim asylum in the UK you must physically be here unless you come via a resettlement programme; other than this it has become impossible for people to come to the UK in a safe way. That’s why people take dangerous journeys to come here.
The numbers of people who try and reach the UK from France are relatively small – less than 200 per month on average – and those people tell us that they are desperate to be reunited with families here in the UK, or have strong ties to Britain.
Our Governments need to work harder to find a solution. The sole focus on security and deterrence as a means of tackling a serious humanitarian crisis is clearly failing. Without legal routes to claim asylum, smugglers and traffickers will keep exploiting these vulnerable people and avoidable deaths will continue.
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