Home Secretary Priti Patel was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2019 when it found that the use of small boats was rising and that the UK’s response could “have the counterproductive effect of forcing migrants to make desperate journeys across the Channel”, The Independent reported.
There have been numerous other warnings, including from United Nations agencies, that reducing safe and legal routes would “increase the likelihood of people turning to smugglers”.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, said the failure to offer refugees alternatives was “continuing to force more people into the hands of people-smugglers”.
“As a backbencher in 2019, the current home secretary was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee that warned the government that the collapse of safe routes would lead to growing numbers of people taking to the sea,” he told The Independent.
“Unfortunately this has come to pass, and we have seen unprecedented numbers who have risked their lives, and on Wednesday we learned of the tragedy of at least 27 people dying making this perilous journey. Ministers need to act – urgently,” he added.
The Foreign Affairs Committee report, published in November 2019, said the UK could not expect France to prevent Channel crossings if it did not address the root causes, including “dire conditions” in migrant camps and the reasons people are fleeing their countries.
“A policy that focuses exclusively on closing borders will drive migrants to take more dangerous routes, and push them into the hands of criminal groups,” the committe said.
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