Migration Watch UK
October 06, 2023
Labour’s response to the Channel boats crisis is deeply unconvincing. That is the conclusion of a study issued today by Migration Watch UK.
A new ‘returns deal’ with the EU would almost certainly mean the UK having to take in far more illegal and irregular migrants from the Continent than would be removed to the EU.
Between 2015 and 2020 when the UK was still an EU member, we took in over twice as many irregular non-EU migrants (about 4,000) from European countries as our EU partners accepted back (just under 1,800).
It is highly unlikely that the UK will receive special treatment compared to EU member states. Instead, we could find ourselves shouldering a significant portion of the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants now arriving in the EU annually, nearly all seeking asylum.
Meanwhile, Labour has hinted that migrants with family ties to the UK will be prioritised for transfer. This could potentially involve thousands of people. The specifics remain hazy, but their plan seems to involve migrants applying at our overseas embassies.
Commenting, Dr. Mike Jones, Executive Director of Migration Watch UK said:
This looks like a formula for even more immigration. Labour are being extremely vague on a matter of real concern to many members of the public. They should come clean about their true intentions.
Labour’s policy would lead the UK to become even more deeply entrenched in the EU’s asylum system than we were before we left.