When Safety Comes at Someone Else’s Expense

Things in France and the UK are changing. We’re happy to acknowledge that there are new opportunities for our friends to cross to the UK to claim asylum without having to make the harrowing sea-crossing, but there’s a significant catch.

I went to a training about a new pilot program today. It’s a new program called the UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme (UEATS). The concept is simple: For every migrant who is sent back to France for having crossed to the UK irregularly, one migrant is granted a visa to cross safely and claim asylum.

Initially this sounds like good news. After all, advocates have been crying out demanding safe and legal routes for migrants to enter the UK for many years. This scheme provides a safe route for people to cross.

So what’s the problem?

The problems are greater in number than it first appears. For one, it must be pointed out that it is never illegal to enter the UK to claim asylum. Whatever British politicians and news programs say, claiming asylum in the UK is a human right.

And so it’s disheartening that the UK makes it a condition that some people must be detained and returned to France in order for others to be granted a safe route to the UK. So this is not truly a safe route, at least not for everyone.

One thing I learned in the training I attended this morning is that all people groups are at equal risk of being detained and deported to France, no matter how legitimate their claims are.

I won’t mince words here; this is despicable.

The stated goal of this scheme is to prevent dangerous English Channel crossings in small boats by gangs of smugglers. This is a laudable goal. Countless lives have been lost at sea in the English Channel.

But it seems that the real goal of this scheme is deterrence, to discourage people from crossing without providing a universal alternative. If the billions of euros that have been poured into securing the Anglo-French border tell us anything, it’s that deterrents are ineffective. People who have been through unimaginable trauma will not be deterred from reaching a goal of safety and a new life for themselves and their families.

The British and French governments just can’t seem to understand this simple fact.

If the governments truly want to stop the crossings and crush the gangs, they need to create safe routes for all. A safe route option would all but eliminate the need for these smuggling gangs and these dangerous crossings.

But it was never really about saving lives and smashing gangs.

UEATS is a start, but it is far from the solution we need. Safety cannot depend on someone else being turned away. It must be guaranteed for all. I believe a better way is possible, one that ends the crossings not through fear, but through compassion and courage. And I will keep fighting for that day to come.