Campaigners urge UK government to test 'refugee visas'

Recommendation is part of Refugee Council's national strategy

Migrants are taken to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force boat after being rescued from the Channel on July 21. PA

The government is being urged to test a “refugee visa”, allowing people fleeing war and persecution to travel to the UK and apply for asylum.

The Refugee Council has put forward a range of alternative solutions to curb Channel crossings.

In what the charity calls its National Refugee Strategy, the comprehensive plan finds “safe ways” for refugees to reach the UK and upholds the “right for people to apply for asylum on UK soil regardless of how they arrive”.

It also suggests what deals could be struck with the EU and France.

Channel crossings resumed on Tuesday after poor conditions at sea eased, having stalled arrivals for several days.

More than 14,500 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after making the journey, provisional Home Office figures show.

The Refugee Council’s recommendations to the government include:

– A pilot of a refugee visa that allows people to travel to the UK to apply for asylum.

– Giving children a chance to join relatives in the UK and dealing with “financial constraints and other barriers that hinder family reunion”.

– Allowing people with relatives already in the UK to travel from EU member states.

– Giving the right to work to asylum seekers who have been waiting longer than six months for a decision on their claim.

Migrant arrivals in UK - in pictures

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  Migrants are driven from the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, after a small boat was intercepted in the English Channel. PA

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  While British PM Rishi Sunak claimed his plan to stop illegal Channel crossings was 'starting to work', recent UK Border Force figures show he still has a long way to go. AFP

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  Seized oats and engines used to cross the Channel at a warehouse in Dover. PA

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  Asylum seekers at Napier Barracks in Folkestone, Kent. PA

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  The Manston immigration holding centre in Thanet, Kent. PA

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  The Bibby Stockholm will dock on England's southern coast and house about 500 migrants. PA

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  Guard dogs and their handlers patrol the perimeter of Manston holding centre. PA

“The human cost and chaos of the current system have reached shocking levels and we urgently need a new approach," said the charity’s chief executive, Enver Solomon.

“The proposals we set out would go some way towards making the smugglers redundant.

"When there are safer alternatives for people to travel to the UK to begin their refugee application, the number of people arriving in boats will drop significantly.

“By putting in place safe routes, achieving agreements with our French and European neighbours, and treating people fairly and with compassion when they reach our shores, we can establish a very different approach from the inhumanity and disorder the government is overseeing.”

The charity called on the government to launch a year-long pilot of a refugee visa – similar to schemes used for Ukrainians fleeing conflict – at an estimated cost of £50.2 million ($64.7 million).

The visa would allow people from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Eritrea and Sudan to apply for permission to travel to the UK and claim asylum, with officials to issue 10,000 while the trial is carried out.

The plan focuses on some of the most common nationalities to cross the Channel, which also have high grant rates of asylum in the UK.

Applicants would need to have left their home country before requesting a visa and they would be allowed to submit applications online or at centres set up in countries near the one they are fleeing.

Basic security and nationality checks would be carried out, with other forms of documents accepted if the applicant did not have a passport, according to the charity.

It called for decisions to take no more than three days and for travel to be arranged once a visa is issued, like in similar resettlement schemes.

If someone is refused asylum they could be returned to their home country.

“Our priority is to stop the boats," a Home Office spokeswoman said.

"Those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach rather than risking their lives or paying people smugglers to arrive illegally in the UK.

“The UK has a strong track record of providing protection to those who genuinely need it and we are committed to exploring new safe and legal routes, but we must first grip the rise in illegal migration.

"Our Illegal Migration Act is a key part of our work to deter people from making unnecessary journeys to the UK.

“We are also taking action to ensure all asylum claims are considered without unnecessary delay and remain on track to clear the ‘legacy’ asylum backlog by the end of the year.”