Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill

Written evidence submitted by Angie Pedley (BSAIB07)

To the Parliamentary Select Committee

I am a supporter of refugees, working as a volunteer in several organisations including Craven District of Sanctuary and Settle Area Refugee Support group. I support Ukrainians who have come here and help Afghan families in my locality. I am writing in a personal capacity.

· Safe routes. This issue must be addressed

· People stuck in Calais and Dunkirk. What happens to them?

· People working here illegally have often been trafficked. How is this to be dealt with?

· Allow asylum seekers to work

In my view the bill misses out four important issues.

1. The lack of provision of safe routes. When this is raised the Home Secretary says that the UK has provided safe routs for some groups, notably Afghans fleeing from the Taliban. Currently the largest number of nationalities arriving by small boat are Afghans. The system has not provided help & support to all the Afghan people who needed it. It was obvious during the chaos when Kabul was evacuated in August 2021, that people would be left behind. To treat them now in a hostile manner is not acceptable.

People could be given safe passage to the UK and assessed here. If they have no legal right to stay, they can be returned. Why is this not considered a sensible plan? The Ukrainians applied for visas. Obviously, most refugees fleeing war and persecution do not have access to embassies or facilities for applying for visas. Have other ways of doing this not been looked at so that people do not make long & dangerous journeys, only to be removed from the UK?

To criminalise those who are forced into steering a boat is not to recognise the reality that the people making money from smuggling human beings, are a long way away from any boats. Because other ways, such as hiding in lorries or under trains, have been stopped people now resort to boats. Surely, other more dangerous ways will be found if the small boat crossings are stopped? The forced movement of people is a global issue and people can’t simply be pushed away from our borders.

Safe passage and safe routes would eliminate most of the demand for smugglers. This should be an addition to the current bill. Otherwise, it is simply a bill hostile to people seeking refugee in the UK and continues to perpetuate the hostile environment. Safe routes would also stop people dying in the English Channel, which is shameful.

2. For those who have already reached France and are living in appalling conditions near the English Channel, what provision is there for them to be assessed? Is the expectation for them to simply move on? It seems unreasonable to leave them there, or to expect the French to sort out the problem. At the moment UK money is given to French police who behave in a threatening way to people who have lost everything. Their tents are slashed & their sleeping bags taken from them.

Usually, people wanting to reach the UK have good reason for choosing the UK. They have friends or relatives here; they speak English already; they come from countries which were colonised by the British & see the UK as a friendly country. I would suggest that provision is made for clearing the existing backlog in France in a humane way.

3. Trafficking. To conduct raids and remove people working illegally seems to punish the victims. What work is being done to assess who has been trafficked, and what is being done to help them? Are the traffickers being brought to justice?

4. Allow asylum seekers to work after a period of 3-6 months. One of the reasons there is hostility to migrants & refugees is because they don’t work & have to be housed & fed by state provision. Most asylum seekers want to work. It would reduce the cost of supporting them until their claims are heard and this would restore their self-respect & dignity.

They would have the opportunity to learn how our systems operate & so have better chances of finding permanent work if they gain the right to remain.

An electrician, for example, could re-train to qualify as a UK electrician & that would help to set someone on a decent path to supporting themselves. Care workers are desperately needed and can be a stepping stone into other work or into qualifying as care workers. Builders are now needed and the same applies.

Because Ukrainians were able to work soon after they arrived, they have settled in quickly, are productive members of society & mostly independent.

In addition. It is possible that some of the above points are not suitable for inclusion in legislation. I would appreciate their being considered for action as, on its own, the current bill, is not complete or satisfactory.

Conclusion. Committee members do not need to be told that immigrants & refugees have helped the UK in many ways, both economic and socially. Issues raised about housing, medical provision etc are not the responsibility of migrants. Often, refugees have professional qualifications and can be very useful members of society. They pay taxes like everyone else does & they want to work. The majority of British people are decent human beings who don’t want to see refugees demonised. Those who oppose immigration are a noisy minority and should not be allowed to affect important legislation.

Without these issues being addressed, this bill would seem to be extending hostility to desperate people who are seeking help when in need. We need the ‘hostile environment’ to be an idea placed firmly in the past & to get back to what the UK does best, which is to support refugees who turn to us in times of crisis.

February 2025