Calls for Keir Starmer to overhaul hostile U.K. migration policies

Hundreds of refugee and human rights organizations have called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to transform the U.K.’s migration policy, urging a departure from the previous government’s controversial and hostile approaches. This plea comes as Starmer marked his first full day as Prime Minister, confirming the termination of the Rwanda deportation scheme, criticizing it as a “gimmick” that was “dead and buried before it started.”

In an open letter shared with The Guardian, 300 civil society organizations and 534 individuals working with migrants have presented a detailed blueprint for asylum reform. The letter criticizes the current policy as “fundamentally broken” and proposes nine key demands to signal a shift in one of the U.K.’s most contentious policy areas.

The plea for humanity

The letter states,

“We are writing to you as grassroots organisations and individuals grounded firmly in our communities across the UK. We are proud to welcome people seeking safety. For years, we have stepped in to support people who have been targeted and brutalised by hostile policies. We are now calling on your government to take a new approach: protecting people seeking safety, rather than punishing them for political gain.”

Their demands encompass several critical changes:

• Restore the right to seek asylum in the U.K. in line with international law by repealing the Illegal Migration Act and the Nationality and Borders Act.
• Open safe routes for people seeking asylum to reach the U.K., including providing visa routes, enabling family reunification, and rebuilding refugee resettlement programs.
• House asylum seekers in communities, not camps, closing institutional accommodations like barracks, barges, hotels, and hostels, which have been criticized for causing lasting harm and incurring significant taxpayer costs.
• Restore the right to work for asylum seekers within six months of arrival, allowing them to rebuild their lives with dignity and contribute economically.

Sarah Wilson, director of Penrith and Eden Refugee Network (PERN), emphasized the long-standing presence of refugees in the U.K., stating,

“Refugees have always been part of the U.K. and we ask our new government to rebuild this tradition. For too long, PERN has watched lives destroyed and talent lost because of the hostile environment. This makes no sense. It is time for change in how we treat those who seek sanctuary in the U.K.”

Duncan McAuley, chief executive of Action Foundation, echoed the urgent need for a compassionate approach, saying,

“There’s an urgent need for a sensible, humane approach to people coming here to seek safety. We hope Labour will fix our broken asylum system and put an end to the demonization of people forced to make dangerous journeys because there are no safe routes.”

Out with the old, hopeful for anew

Freedom United echoes the plea to overhaul ruthless anti-migrant provisions. Scrapping the Rwanda scheme is just a start. A new approach must guarantee support for asylum seekers arriving in the U.K. via so-called “irregular routes” and provide access to modern slavery protections for those trafficked into the U.K.

Safe migration routes are the most effective way to protect people from trafficking and would undermine traffickers’ thriving industry, but the new Labour government has yet to unveil if they will create such routes. Only then can we have genuine anti-trafficking immigration policies.