Recent years have seen a dramatically increased focus on border controls, with the express purpose of controlling irregular immigration. Numbers of asylum applications to the UK have fallen substantially, from a peak of around 87,000 in 2002, to around 23,000 last year. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this fall in numbers means that there are fewer refugees in the world. In fact, it suggests that potentially, fewer refugees are able to get to the UK to seek safety here. What is happening to them? Are they seeking safety elsewhere? Or, frighteningly, are they being prevented from escaping and ever reaching a safe place?
The report
The Refugee Council's report 'Remote Controls: how UK border controls are endangering the lives of refugees' is the result of a one year research project by the Refugee Council. It examines the various types of border controls the UK implements overseas, and what these mean for refugees trying to escape persecution and seek safety in the UK and Europe. Evidence was gathered during a field visit to Turkey, a key country of transit for many refugees coming to the UK.
It is clear from the evidence that the operation of UK overseas border controls may result in refugees being sent back to countries where they face persecution. Border controls are often located in refugees’ regions of origin.
The report shows that, while remote border controls are able to identify people who are attempting to leave their country without proper travel documentation (as they have no choice), they do not identify people fleeing persecution and offer them a route to safety.
Recommendations
The Refugee Council believes that the UK government needs to recognise that wherever it operates border controls, or influences the border controls of other states, it has a legal obligation to ensure those fleeing persecution and human rights abuses are not sent back to persecution and are able to exercise their right to claim asylum. The report recommends safeguards the UK should put in place to ensure that refugees who attempt to come through their overseas border controls are not put at risk and are able to access protection.
We will be advocating that the UK Border Agency take up the recommendations contained in the report and asking that refugee protection be included as an integral part of the UK's border strategy. We have also formed a partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in order to take forward some of the key recommendations on protection safeguards that need to be put in place wherever the UK operates border control.
See also
Read the report
See photographs taken in Spain and Turkey as part of the project
Read stories from refugees about their dangerous journeys to safety
Find out more about the report's context
