Downing Street calls EU asylum seeker agreement ‘rigid and inflexible’
Downing Street has criticised the EU’s asylum seekers agreement, adding that it may need to be revised as the number of migrants arriving to the UK illegally by boat continues to rise.
About 4,000 asylum seekers have crossed the channel this year, including 235 in just one day last week.
The EU’s Dublin Agreement states that asylum seekers should be settled in the first European country they arrive in, however this often does not happen.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said today that the agreement should potentially be reviewed to better manage the flow of asylum seekers, calling its current format “rigid and inflexible”.
“One of the issues which is highlighted by the crossings is that asylum seekers are required to claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is clearly not happening in many places,” he said.
“They are travelling onward and taking dangerous journeys to places like the UK and this is something that should be looked at.”
The increase in illegal arrivals has led to home secretary Priti Patel to call for the Royal Navy to patrol the borders and send the migrants back to France, while other government figures have also called for stronger measures to prevent further arrivals.
Immigration minister Chris Philp wrote in the Telegraph last week that “the French need to stop these illegal migrants from getting in the water in the first place” and that the UK should “intercept those who manage to leave France and return those who make it to our shores”.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said the Navy “is well resourced and stands ready” to assist in any possible situation.
“The crossings which are taking place are completely unacceptable – criminal gangs are behind them and they are putting lives in danger,” he said.