Today, France and the UK signed a deal agreeing collaborative measures on Calais including a new jointly run command and control centre. Stephen Hale, Refugee Action Chief Executive commented:
“The measures found in the ministers’ deal are heavily focused on cracking down on smugglers and criminalising asylum seekers.
Stephen Hale added:
Focusing exclusively on preventing people from reaching Calais and attempting to cross the channel will merely drive people to forge new and more hazardous routes as we’ve started to see signs of already.
More importantly, it will do nothing to stem the overarching problem we’re facing of the global refugee crisis. Any successful approach must include safe and legal routes at the heart of this policy to deal with people leaving their countries in search of safety.”