Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and opposition leader Keir Starmer have both said they want to reduce immigration – including legal immigration – but have different approaches to achieving that goal.
As the UK prepares for an election that is expected to bring a change of government for the first time in 14 years, Conservative plans to deport asylum seekers to the east African country of Rwanda could be scrapped.
The policy, first announced in April 2022 in response to rising numbers of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats, was ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court. But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sidestepped the legal hurdles by pushing through a bill in April that would have deemed Rwanda a safe country.
Rishi Sunak has said flights returning asylum seekers to Rwanda will go ahead if he is re-elected.
But with Labour surging in the polls and its promise to scrap the deportation plan altogether, a shift in UK immigration policy seems imminent.
For Faheem, an Afghan asylum seeker who spent two years in the UK, change at the top of government is desperately needed to protect those seeking refuge in the country.
“This Prime Minister is telling all new arrivals that they cannot stay. I am not giving them the right to stay in the UK, I am sending them back to Rwanda”Faheem, whose brother was killed by the Taliban, told Euronews. “It’s not good for me. Rwanda, Afghanistan, it’s the same for me”.
The plan calls for asylum seekers who are deported to have their protection claims processed in Rwanda, where they would remain if their claims are successful.
It has drawn widespread criticism from opposition parties and human rights campaigners, with Sunak saying the policy would act as a deterrent and prevent migrants from making the dangerous Channel crossing from the French coast.
“In fact, research suggests that the deterrent effect is quite weak.”Dr Ben Brindle of the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory told Euronews. “This is because, at least in the case of the UK-Rwanda programme, only a few hundred people would be sent to Rwanda. So when an asylum seeker is considering coming to the UK, the risk of them being sent to a third country is actually very low.”
Fizza Qureshi, of the Migrants’ Rights Network, said Labour must be careful not to pander to the right’s hard line on immigration in an attempt to appease voters.
“We are obviously in favour of scrapping the Rwanda plan altogether, but we are concerned that an alternative is being put in place.”Mr Qureshi told Euronews. “While Rwanda remains a concern and has been identified as a dangerous country for many people, we are concerned that another country is being considered by Labour. And we know this because bilateral agreements have already been reached… between Bangladesh and the UK, as well as with India.”.
In May, the British government signed an agreement with Bangladesh to speed up the return of migrants.
Labour is proposing improved migration controls and closer cooperation with France to tackle the smuggling networks that ferry migrants across the Channel. However, with the UK election sandwiched between two rounds of early general elections in France – where the far-right National Rally is seeking to enter government – experts say cooperation with Paris could prove trickier.
“France has an interest in fighting immigration and crime, but it has no real interest in preventing migrants from leaving France and going to the United Kingdom”said Ian Bond of the Centre for European Research. “I think it could become an even bigger problem if France gets a more right-wing government after the second round of elections.”
Labour and Conservatives pledge to cut net immigration
Both Sunak and Starmer have said they want to reduce overall net immigration – including legal immigration – but have different approaches to achieving that goal.
“The Conservatives would seek to restrict the supply of visas, by setting an annual cap on work visas and family visas”Mr. Brindle explained. “For Labour, it’s more about restricting demand for visas, and they would do that by linking skills policy and immigration policy, so that employers and sectors that demand large numbers of work visas would have to enact workforce training schemes to fill those skills gaps with workers who are already in the UK.”
Since Brexit, the number of people emigrating to the UK from the EU has fallen, while migration from outside the EU has increased sharply.
The parties’ vision of reducing net migration has therefore raised questions about the potential impact on labour shortages in critical sectors, including health care.
ADVERTISEMENT“If there are fewer people coming to work in these types of jobs, one may wonder how these vacancies can be filled.”explained Dr. Brindle. “It is not necessary to resort to immigration, but it will be necessary to do something else, for example to improve wages and working conditions in these jobs to make them more attractive to people who are already in the country.”
