Current safe routes are very limited. They are designed predominantly around specific wars or crises, with hugely varying levels of success. For example, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, two safe routes to the UK specifically for Ukrainians were opened and only five Ukrainians have ever made the journey across the Channel, despite over 200,000 Ukrainians arriving safely. The Ukraine schemes are well-resourced and flexible and have been shown to effectively break the business model of the smugglers by cutting demand for dangerous journeys. However, the Afghan resettlement schemes introduced after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, remain deeply flawed with unfulfilled promises and bureaucratic hurdles that have left so many Afghans in vulnerable positions.

Most people still have no access to safe routes. For the vast majority of potential asylum seekers in war-torn countries, the only way to claim asylum in the UK is to put themselves at the mercy of the gangs, and to go on a small boat to get across the channel. There is no safe route, for example, for Palestinians, Eritreans or Sudanese people. There is just nothing available.

Trying to disrupt irregular migration routes without providing safe alternatives only forces refugees to take greater risks. The real issue is that there is no way for refugees to apply for asylum before they’re in the UK, and relying on smugglers is often the only way to get here. That wouldn’t be the case if there were functioning safe routes – and the Ukraine schemes showed this is possible. 

Family reunion is a key safe route, which is why I’m concerned about how restricted and limited it is. The UK’s family reunion rules are broken and there is a huge gap that we need to address. If a child is orphaned or separated from their parents and has family in the UK, they are prevented from joining a refugee sibling, grandparent or uncle or aunt in the UK. Evening joining their mum or dad will now be made more difficult with the government’s restricting of Refugee Family Reunion.

Our system wasn’t always this harmful, and it doesn’t have to be. Previously, a child with family in the UK who was seeking asylum in the European Union (EU) could be transferred to the UK under Dublin III Regulations to have their claim processed here with family, but the UK is no longer party to the Dublin Regulations. While the UK’s own Immigration Rules should also allow for children to safely join family in the UK, this route is largely inaccessible because of huge fees and requirements imposed on the refugee family member in the UK. Right now, this gap is keeping families apart. 

Children are particularly likely to resort to people smuggling when access to family reunion is delayed or at risk. Over the past two years, almost 60% of Safe Passage International's new cases of unaccompanied children in France being supported to reunite with family in the UK have gone missing having lost faith in the legal process and are most likely to have travelled to the UK irregularly.

Considering how important family reunion is, as my MP, what will you do to stand up for refugee family reunion and make sure that this safe route is expanded? 

By opening safe routes, we could act to prevent children risking their lives coming to the UK via dangerous journeys. The changes we are proposing would support a relatively small number of children with estimates of 230-340 children arriving per year. This would go some way towards replacing the safe route lost when the UK ceased to be party to the Dublin Regulations after Brexit, without having to engage in complex state-to-state negotiations. It would also simplify the decision-making process for caseworkers at the Home Office, who would no longer need to assess complex rights-based applications from refugees seeking to demonstrate exceptional circumstances.  

As as a global leader, we have a responsibility to support child refugees. These children have family in the UK who can care for them and I would welcome the Government in stepping up, offering sanctuary to those young people. In [add the name of your local area], we are proud to welcome child refugees in our local community.

As my MP, will you support the calls for expanding family reunion? 

Providing safe routes is the best way to prevent dangerous journeys and tackle smuggling. All the evidence shows that policies that rely on deterrence to prevent refugees from taking dangerous journeys do not work. Such policies do not address why people come here - for family, community, and to rebuild their lives.

Tougher enforcement and border policing without safe alternatives often end up punishing refugees, not smugglers. Many refugees are coerced or pressured by smugglers into “helping” during the journey — yet they are the ones facing prosecution and imprisonment. Meanwhile, those profiting from their desperation are left untouched.

While targeting smugglers makes sense, this shouldn’t be come at the expense of refugees’ basic rights and safety. Recent Home Office data even shows that increased border enforcement has led smugglers to cram more people, including children, onto boats to avoid detection, with the tragic consequences that we know. This is what deterrence-focused policies without real alternatives to smugglers produce.

As my MP, will you support expanding safe routes and urge the Home Secretary to prioritise policies that save lives and genuinely tackle smuggling, rather than punishing refugees?

Recent research shows most people still want to welcome refugees, 84% believe people should be able to take refuge in other countries, to escape from war or persecution. Polling after the 2024 election also found that 50% of people backed the introduction of a visa scheme to allow people with strong asylum claims to travel here to claim asylum, with only 16% opposing. 

Besides, this narrative ignores that most refugees don’t want to leave their homes in the first place. The vast majority of displaced people – over 70% – stay in neighbouring countries. The small fraction who make it to the UK often do so because they have family here or language and community ties. As a global leader, it’s our moral responsibility to offer safety and a chance to rebuild their lives.

While political rhetoric often paints migration as a “burden”, the evidence tells a different story. Refugees and migrants contribute enormously to our country — they work in vital industries, pay taxes, fill labour shortages, start businesses, and enrich our communities. As one of your constituents, I hope you’ll push back against divisive narratives and recognise the value migration brings and the importance of keeping families safe and together.