Asylum is about welcoming and protecting people who need somewhere safe to rebuild their lives.
The Jesuit Refugee Service encourages cooperation between the French and UK governments to combat human trafficking and prevent dangerous Channel crossings. However, we urge both governments to place protection and human rights at the heart of their negotiations, rather than continuing to treat asylum as a border security issue.
This latest agreement falls significantly short of creating the safe routes to sanctuary that are urgently needed to prevent further loss of life in the Channel. Furthermore, under the Refugee Convention, people arriving in the UK have a right to seek asylum —they are not required to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.
We are deeply concerned about how this deal will be implemented in practice. It risks increasing the detention of people seeking sanctuary and is set against a backdrop of violent border enforcement measures, including plans to intercept boats—actions that endanger lives and may breach maritime law.
We call for the French and UK governments to take a humane and rights-based approach to asylum, that upholds their international obligations and the dignity of those seeking protection.
