We must work together with our European colleagues to tackle the root causes of this crisis
I was encouraged to see Jeremy Corbyn spend last weekend visiting refugee camps in Calais and elsewhere, so he could witness first-hand the awful conditions that refugees endure every day.
When I visited Calais in August of last year, I was appalled by what Jeremy rightly called the ‘fetid’ state of the camp, whose population has now reached 3,000 refugees including many children. Six months of rain, snow and an expanding population have made what was already a desperate humanitarian situation much worse.
So far the UK has largely stood apart from other European countries faced with exactly the same refugee crisis to deal with – the largest movement of refugees since the Second World War. It took months for the UK government to liaise properly with French authorities and to start making the security changes necessary to improve safety in Calais, and when they did respond it was too little, and too late.
The Channel tunnels for freight and passengers are still regularly disrupted and refugees are still dying while trying to get through this incredibly unsafe route.
Rather than supporting attempts to have a coordinated EU response, David Cameron has, time and time again, positioned himself at the sidelines. Yes, the UK has an opt-out from EU asylum policy, but countries like Ireland which also have such an opt-out have supported, rather than jeered at, EU initiatives for emergency location of refugees from the worst-hit European countries.
Even when it comes to the no-brainer of better coordinating search and rescue, Cameron only abandoned his previous objections when he was forced to by public horror at the death toll in the Mediterranean.
In the next few months, we will see temperatures rise and seas calm, which means we could witness even more desperate families trying to make the perilous journey to Europe. We risk a repeat of Operation Stack on our roads and yet more casualties trying to perilously cross into our country under the Channel, and into other EU member states over the Med and through Turkey.
We must work together with our European colleagues to tackle the root causes of this crisis and bring peace and stability to Libya, Syria and Eritrea. Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy lead, has been quietly but effectively making some progress here; sadly, the UK government has largely been conspicuous by its absence.
We also need to engage with attempts to relocate those refugees who are already here in the EU; and to improve security and safety in Calais, now effectively the UK’s border with France.
The Dover-Calais route is essential not just for the UK but for all of Europe, yet it has been left down to Labour politicians to try and work with our European partners to improve the situation, in the absence of UK government action.
We need to acknowledge that the best – and only – way of responding to the refugee crisis is to work with other countries to solve it, and that the UK can do this by participating in, and trying to shape, EU initiatives. Cameron can act like a latter-day King Canute if he likes, trying to ignore developments in the rest of the world. Thankfully, on this issue Jeremy Corbyn’s feet are much more firmly on the ground.
Anneliese Dodds is Labour MEP for the South East of England
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62 Responses to “Comment: Corbyn gets it right on refugees”
Bruce Meredeen
Appalling, though a bit off-topic. Apparently a majority of Bury Park people are British and have every right to live, work and worship there. In this case it would appear to be the BFs who make themselves the unwelcome outsiders despite also being British. They seem to be too stupid to see it. To claim that Britain, which they ignorantly manage to confuse with England, is a Christian (and no doubt white, they would claim) country is factually wrong. It’s multi-faith. BF’s visit to Luton was clearly designed as a publicity stunt and intended to be provocative. Equally the locals were – understandably – hostile and resisted the BF incursion, although I’d always oppose violence and inflammatory language by either side. I saw at least 3 white police so it doesn’t look like violent political Islamists have yet quite taken over Luton. I’d need to see the stats about the diversity of the local population before commenting on any ‘takeover.’ I don’t think we should confuse the number of viewings of Britain First vids with their level of support. The National Front and the BNP were seen off, and the BFs will be too by people of goodwill.
Bruce Meredeen
I don’t make any criticism of Brits abroad – except possibly some holiday-makers – although I doubt that their circumstances are comparable with those in the ‘Jungle.’ My point was that if all immigration ceases and legal migrants or asylum seekers are automatically repatriated, as I think ‘Sid’ implies, we can expect similar treatment from other countries. As Anneliese (my spelling was wrong in an earlier comment) suggests, we need international co-operation rather than hostile actions to control the current migration crisis.
Bruce Meredeen
Who knows for sure? Not sure if you mean only the would be migrants or the asylum seekers. I suspect you’re right about the heads of household and most other adults, though not the children. Respectfully, it’s not about whether they’re in Calais by choice but what they saw to be the alternative. There’s a world of difference between being caught between Assad and Isis on the one hand, and on the other seeking a better life than they might reasonably expect in the sub-continent or a developing nation.
Bruce Meredeen
No, and no, respectively. Events of this magnitude don’t have a simple, single ‘root cause’ and there is no simple, single ‘answer’ either.
Cole
Shame we can’t deport you to Isis territory.