After migrants yesterday tried to board lorries held up by striking ferry workers in Calais, David Cameron on Wednesday said that the UK needs to work with European partners to stop the problem "at source", breaking the link between travelling to Europe by boat and "getting settlement" in Europe.
Stopping the problem at source would be praiseworthy, however the two countries producing most migrants are Syria, where there is a four-year war, and Eritrea, where a harsh dictatorship holds sway.
The migration tragedies that we are repeatedly witnessing along our borders are to a large extent caused by Europe’s strict migration policies and lack of solidarity. The European Commission proposed the EU Migration Agenda, including a resettlement scheme. According to some NGOs, that could mean as few as 2,309 people coming to the UK over the next two years. At Caritas Europa we are urging EU leaders, meeting Thursday and Friday to open their doors to refugees.
A huge part of responsibility for people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea must be borne by EU lawmakers who make it more and more impossible for people to come safely and legally to Europe. A Syrian refugee family sees little choice between a life in limbo in a Lebanese refugee camp or a journey to Europe fuelled by a vision of peace and safety. There are hundreds of reasons why people flee Eritrea, such as military service which can be extended for years, and systematic torture carried out within the Eritrean army.
It is the UK’s responsibility, as a country of Christian heritage, to not close its eyes in front of people’s hardships and, as Pope Francis has said several times, to stop the spread of indifference in Europe.
Mr Cameron said it was necessary to make sure Britain is a "less easy place for illegal migrants to come to and work in". He is turning a blind eye on the reality – that all European economies profit from irregular work by migrants.
We are happy to buy cheap tomatoes picked by migrants on low or no wages, who have no access to basic rights and who only want to survive and send money back to their families. People come to Europe, including Britain, because there is demand for cheap labour. They know they will find jobs and our systems are enabling this illegal work while they are being exploited. At Caritas Europa we believe no one is illegal – referring to them as such dehumanises them.
Besides, people’s current fear of migrants is to a large extent because arrivals come in an irregular, unregulated way. It is not possible to stop migrants from coming, because they need, either to seek protection or find work. They do not think they are doing something wrong by trying to survive, so a better way to manage this would be to legalise and regulate migration flows.
Opening legal channels for protection, including resettlement, is one of the steps towards this regulation, which would also leave British citizens feeling safer.
Karolina Babicka is an advocacy and policy officer for migration and asylum at Caritas Europa
Above: Migrants on Wednesday try to board a UK-bound lorry on the main road into Calais ferry port. Photo: PA
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You state: "A huge part of responsibility for people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea must be born by EU lawmakers who make it more and more impossible for people to come safely and legally to Europe.". This makes it sound as if national governments in Europe were straining at the leash to resettle asylum seekers in their countries, but are being stopped by the obstructive EU-commission. In fact exactly the reverse is true: the commission has taken initiatives to establish quotas spread evenly across Europe allowing for GDP and unemployment rates, for countries to take on asylum seekers, but the initiatives are subject to fierce opposition from national governments. These have even refused to discuss any agreement with the word "quota" in it. "EU lawmakers" have been trying somewhat desperately to solve the problem, not worsen it.
It's not so much a 'fear of migrants' that we have, but a realistic determination to ensure that we're not going to be swamped by those who wish to come to Britain.
In 2013-14 alone, our population grew by half a million, and I, along with millions of others, view this as unsustainable.
The British people weren't consulted about the mass immigration which has been imposed upon us, and we certainly never gave our consent to it. I pray for a government that is sufficiently strong-willed to act in the interests of the people of this country.