With rising small boat arrivals and a dysfunctional asylum system, the government faces growing pressure to demonstrate control at the border. But achieving a significant and permanent fall in Channel crossings must be grounded in what works and guided by the UK’s commitments under international law.
The Biden administration showed how this approach can work in practice, combining effective cooperation with Mexico on enforcement with access to pre-arrival processing and safe, legal routes – leading to a drop of over 90% in irregular border crossings for some nationalities.
Asylum Management Centres: A new approach to tackle small boat crossings proposes a similar strategy in the Channel. Written by Senior Policy Associate and former Yvette Cooper advisor Beth Gardiner-Smith and Policy Associate Emily Graham, the report calls on government to set up new ‘Asylum Management Centres’ in France to divert asylum seekers into safe, legal routes and reduce dangerous small boat crossings.
It is the first report in FGF’s ‘Future of Asylum’ project, which sets out fresh ideas for fixing our broken asylum system at home – and asks what role a UK government could play in reshaping the international system amid a rapidly shifting global order.