The UK has a duty to ensure that protection seekers have access to the asylum procedure. Those who are recognized as refugees can be integrated, while those who have no other legal basis to stay can be returned to their countries of origin in safety and dignity.
Instead, the UK is enacting blame schemes, jeopardizing the international refugee protection system, which has stood the test of time and saved millions of lives over decades.
The UK has supported UNHCR’s work on several occasions in the past, making significant contributions to help protect and support refugees in conflict areas such as Ukraine. However, financial support abroad for some refugee crises cannot replace the responsibility and obligation of states to receive asylum seekers and protect refugees on their territory, regardless of race, nationality and mode of access.
UNHCR recognizes that forced displacement presents challenges, but developed countries host only a fraction of the world’s refugees, and are countries that also have the resources to handle asylum claims in a humane, fair and efficient manner.
