Labour's focus on immigration and border security is a rehash of failed Tory policies

The Labour government’s proposed policies on immigration and border security are starting to look a lot like just a rehashing of the same old policies of “deterrence, detention and deportation” which we saw under the Conservative government.

Cancelling the Conservatives’ Rwanda policy on day one showed that we can have immigration and asylum policies rooted in fairness, not just publicity stunts. Ending the contract for the Bibby Stockholm gave hope that we would see a more humane system in place. Unfortunately, Labour appears to have already started falling into the same tired old routine as the Conservatives did by now announcing policies focused purely on enforcement and increased immigration detention.

As part of their new policy, home secretary Yvette Cooper has announced that it will bring on 100 new “specialist intelligence officers and investigators” into the National Crime Agency to target gangs, new plans to target employers who employ undocumented workers, increase immigration detention capacity by 290 beds, and redeployment of staff to drive returns.

These types of policies have been shown repeatedly not to work. In large part, the previous government’s policies along these lines, including the Albanian Returns Agreement, led to a significant rise in modern slavery claims, albeit with far fewer positive outcomes as it became harder for people to actually seek help from the authorities. Gangs use the threat of returns to increase their control over their victims.

Even when we aren’t talking about human trafficking, though, there are serious implications. Returns agreements don’t change what caused people to come to the UK. They don’t suddenly make someone less likely to leave a country if returned there. They risk creating a never-ending cycle of people having to rely on gangs, and gangs which are being strengthened by other policies.

Part of the announced policies is to further treat channel crossings as a criminal rather than migration issue. There are a number of problems with this, namely though that such policies, as seen with the previous government’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, invariably end up targeting the smaller, “self-facilitated” crossings. These are the ones organised predominately by friendship or family groups, rather than criminal gangs.

The more difficult these become the more likely people are to have to turn to the larger organised gangs, which are not only better resourced, but also often have better contacts to avoid enforcement. These gangs are increasingly putting more and more people on boats to minimise the number of crossings, forcing asylum seekers to pilot the boats, and then taking longer more dangerous journeys. Inevitably this increases the risk of loss of life in the channel.

None of this actually changes why people come to the UK to seek asylum, primarily because they have existing ties which no number of deterrents change. People don’t risk their lives crossing the channel if they see any alternative option, and that’s what we need, alternative options.

Aside from what is mentioned in Labour’s announcement, it is what isn’t which is more striking. We are used to politicians “talking tough” on immigration and asylum, but there was no mention of increasing the number of authorised routes for people to seek asylum in the UK, no mention of plans to make it safer and simpler for people to do so without relying on gangs. There was no mention of how we can help people regularise their status if they do become undocumented, so that they are not put at risk from exploitative employers. We could have seen policies about providing asylum seekers with the right to work more quickly. We saw none of this. Instead, it is just the same old talk of “deterrents, detention and deportations”.

These types of policy, and the rhetoric which surrounds them, don’t just affect those coming to the UK. They impact on all of us and our communities. We recently saw rioters attempting to set alight to hotels with people in them while chanting “stop the boats”. We saw people attacking minorities because of misinformation about asylum seekers. We also saw communities come together to stand against that – those are who Labour needs to be listening to.

Tougher border policies grab headlines, but they don’t actually change anything in real terms. The Nationality and Borders Act, Illegal Migration Act, and Safety of Rwanda Act are just some recent examples of how such policies not only do not work, but also embolden the far-right.

If Labour really wants to tackle gangs and exploitative employers, rather than their victims, then they need policies which treat all migrants with respect and dignity. They need to change the framing of the debate to one which looks at the positives of immigration, and which combats misinformation and ensures that everyone can feel safe and supported living in the UK. That’s not a quick fix, and it doesn’t make for soundbites, but it is the only practical option.

Daniel Sohege is the director of human rights advocacy group Stand for All.

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