The new leftist Labour government in Britain is reportedly planning to offer more than 100,000 migrants, mostly illegal, the opportunity to apply for asylum and remain in the country. This significant policy shift follows the cancellation of the Tory scheme that aimed to send illegal boat migrants to Rwanda for offshore asylum processing.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government is set to allow approximately 90,000 boat migrants, who were initially slated for removal, to apply for asylum in Britain, according to The Telegraph. These 90,000 boat migrants are among around 102,000 who are expected to be given this opportunity as a means of alleviating the strain on the asylum system by distributing it across the general population. This move would also address the issue of housing migrants in hotels, which costs taxpayers approximately £2.9 million per day.
When questioned about the implications of this new policy, which could grant any migrant arriving illegally by boat the immediate right to apply for asylum—a process the previous Tory government had legislated against—the Prime Minister’s spokesman stated: “We need to ensure that people who arrive here are processed so that people are not sitting in the system, housed in expensive taxpayer-funded hotels as they have been under previous administrations.”
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly criticized the plan, describing it as an effective amnesty: “The very first thing Labour did in government was scrap the Rwanda deterrent. The second is to grant an effective amnesty to 100,000 illegal migrants, who were banned from claiming asylum under our plans. It has taken the Labour Party less than five days to make the UK more attractive to asylum seekers than ever before.”
The new policy comes as the first illegal migrants have already been brought ashore in Britain under Starmer’s government, bringing the total to an estimated 13,574 migrants for the first six months of the year, which is 12 percent higher than last year, according to the PA news agency.
The previous Conservative government under Rishi Sunak had also faced record numbers of illegal migrants. The victory of the left-wing Labour government has reportedly been celebrated by prospective boat migrants. One migrant in Dunkirk said last week: “It’s really good for us. We were really nervous in our countries to travel all the way here and get sent back… We no longer live in fear of them sending us to Rwanda. I’ve seen a couple of documentaries, and Rwanda is not the best place.”
Another migrant expressed optimism, stating: “I like Labour government. I will cross at first chance. They give me hope.”
Rather than adopting the previous Tory strategy of sending migrants to Rwanda or using the Royal Navy to return boat migrants to France, as suggested by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Starmer has proposed increasing spending to combat the people-smuggling networks facilitating illegal crossings.
Starmer’s government is also reportedly considering a migrant returns policy with the European Union in exchange for accepting an annual quota of migrants from the bloc. However, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who initially opened up Britain to mass migration, warned on Tuesday that the new Labour government needs to limit migration to avoid empowering anti-mass migration populists like Nigel Farage and his Reform UK.
The Labour government’s new policies represent a significant shift in the UK’s approach to immigration, potentially setting the stage for intense political debate and public scrutiny.
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