Recommendation 1

It is clear that there is a global migration crisis: tens of millions of people are currently displaced and are fleeing their home countries to escape war and persecution. It is difficult for us to imagine their desperation. In recent years, the number of people coming to the UK to seek asylum has increased. Many of those people have risked their lives by crossing the Channel in small boats, and sadly many people have lost their lives while making that journey. It is right that the Government should seek to prevent further loss of life at sea. Many of those who make dangerous journeys do not have the options of a safe and legal route into the UK. We welcome the Government’s commitment to safe and legal routes and encourage them to specify what these new routes will be as soon as reasonably practicable. (Paragraph 23) Our inquiry and views on the Bill