A False Solution: The Denmark Mirage
The current fixation on emulating Denmark’s highly restrictive asylum model, which aims to make refugee status temporary and settlement harder to earn, is a distraction from the core issue of border integrity. While the UK government views it as a way to reduce the “pull factor,” studies suggest that such deterrence policies have minimal impact on the destination choice of those fleeing persecution and exploitation.
Making legal settlement harder for genuine refugees and skilled migrants, or confiscating assets as has been proposed in Danish-style policies, does not stop a single trafficker’s dinghy in the English Channel. It only alienates those who have followed the law, damaging Britain’s reputation as a fair, tolerant nation. The Illegal Migration Act attempts to resolve this by stating those who arrive illegally will be removed, but the practical hurdles of mass detention and removal to safe third countries remain immense.
A National Embarrassment
Perhaps the most stinging indictment of all is the juxtaposition of national capability against national failure. A nation that successfully repelled the might of the Luftwaffe in the 1940s, a nation that possesses a Royal Navy of 64 commissioned and active ships, including two aircraft carriers and sixteen major surface combatants, seemingly cannot prevent a few hundred unseaworthy rubber dinghies from breaching its sovereign waters.
This is not a failure of maritime strength; it is a failure of political will, strategy, and cross-channel diplomacy. It is a geopolitical and security embarrassment that signals impotence to both organised criminal networks and foreign adversaries. The focus must be shifted from punitive, non-functional reforms based on a false equivalence with legal migration, to a robust, intelligence-led, and highly visible naval operation that absolutely crushes the people-smuggling networks at source. The solution lies in decisive action against traffickers, not in alienating the genuine migrants and refugees who seek a better life through legal means.
You might find this video useful for understanding the broader political landscape surrounding the Channel crossings: Why illegal migration is ‘tearing our country apart’ and system is broken, says Shabana Mahmood. This clip is relevant as it features the Home Secretary discussing the government’s perspective and new proposals regarding the “broken system” of illegal migration.
