Current safe routes are very limited. Safe routes 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 streamlined, 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. The Government committed to resettling up to 20,000 Afghans, but little over half this number have arrived in the UK. The inflexible criteria and inconsistent decision-making as well as limited options for family reunion for Afghans on these schemes, forces many Afghans to make dangerous journeys to family and safety. 

Most people have no access to safe routes. For the vast majority of potential asylum seekers in war-torn regions, areas and countries around the world, 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 Eritreans or Sudanese people. There is just nothing available. The only means they have to get to the UK are small boats. 

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.

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. To the best of our knowledge, they have made a dangerous journey to reach loved ones, instead of pursuing their claim under slow and restrictive UK rules.

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. Most refugees on the move are unaware of policies aiming to deter their attempts to travel. For example, in 2023 and 2024 the government introduced laws which prosecuted people seeking safety, including children, for making channel crossings, but since then almost 55,000 people have crossed the channel, with at least 69 people dying attempting to cross in 2024 alone. Policies which try and punish refugees for making dangerous journeys are therefore not only deeply harmful, but wholly ineffective as a deterrent. 

As my MP, will you support the need for safe routes in Parliament and raise the need for the Government to open safe routes for refugees with the Home Secretary?

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. 

 The last Government enacted some of the most extreme anti-refugee policies, yet dangerous journeys didn’t stop. Evidence shows that most refugees do not know what policies will face them when they arrive, and as such do not make decisions about where and how to move based on these.

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. Therefore, continuing the same old borders-over-people tactics won’t achieve a different result.  

As my MP, will you raise in parliament that many of your constituents want to welcome refugees and expand safe routes?