“Safe Routes Now” say UK public

The majority of the UK public (58%) support safe routes for refugees to travel to the UK in order to apply for asylum, according to a new YouGov poll commissioned by the refugee charity Care4Calais. An amendment to the Illegal Migration Bill calling for Safe Passage will be debated in Parliament today.

Support for safe routes rises to 77% amongst Labour voters and 78% amongst Liberal Democrat voters.

The YouGov poll also shows that 65% of the UK public are sympathetic towards refugees seeking a safer life for themselves and their families.

And 70% of the UK public believe £40.85 per week per person is too little to cover the costs of essentials, which is the amount the UK Government currently provides to asylum seekers. 

The YouGov poll was commissioned as part of a new campaign entitled Anything for Love. Those polled were given a series of questions regarding refugees and the lengths they’d go to if their loved ones were in danger. The poll found that 90% of the UK public would do anything to protect their loved ones if they were in danger, 80% would be willing to travel thousands of miles to protect their loved ones, and 69% would be willing to put their life on the line for their loved ones.

Care4Calais say the poll demonstrates the public will not support the Government’s draconian anti-refugee policies such as the Illegal Migration Bill.

Clare Moseley, the founder of Care4Calais said; “As the UK Government seeks to ban refugees from claiming asylum in the UK through its new bill, our poll shows that they are out of step with the UK public who are sympathetic to the plight of refugees and believe we should be providing safe routes for them to claim asylum.

“It has been clear for some time that the current Government is more interested in hardline anti-refugee rhetoric than delivering real solutions to fix the broken UK asylum system.”

ENDS

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,062 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd – 3rd March 2023. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+). The results can be found at this link.

The amendment being debated today is New Clause 10 and creates a visa for safe passage for refugees who have viable asylum claims.  Further detail is available here. 

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