Compassionate Ideas to Solve ‘the Boat Crisis’
It’s often attributed to Albert Einstein (but apparently someone made up the phrase before). But it’s said that ‘stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again’.
This would be a good way to describe the present ‘boat crisis’, with illegal immigrants coming in their thousands in small boats (and on lorries) into England, which has led to a huge surge in support for Reform UK.
Of course, we all know that safe legal migration is fine (you’ve likely had a relative cared for by one). But to stick our heads in the sand and not address this issue, will likely mean that Reform UK gain power (which won’t stop illegal migration anyway, see below).
And due to other policies (like climate science denial), will lead to more wildfires, floods and heatwaves, and likely send our endangered native species (like hedgehogs and dormice) extinct.
Greens want ‘open borders’ in an ideal world, but of course saying this is not very clever, because as night follow day, this will not go down well with most people, and right-wing parties will gain power.
It’s good to be compassionate, but it’s also important to be honest about the issue that there are some who ‘milk the system’, so something needs to done.
But having a ‘them and us’ mentality (you love or hate immigrants) is not the answer, as it has turned a previously tolerant nation into one that is not. And that’s something that people on England has always put pride in – what former Green MP Caroline Lucas now terms ‘compassionate patriotism’.
We Came By Sea is the untold story of the small boats crisis, from a writer whose first book won the Somerset Maugham Award. He has also written a book on endangered curlew birds.
Solutions Are Already Known
If you listen to right-wing MPs, you’d think that solutions to the boat crisis were not known, other than ‘turn them back’ (you can’t, because under international law, they need to stay here to wait for asylum processing.
You can’t literally turn back people arriving on boats to France, because if they die, we would be responsible for their murder – some may not care, but most of us do.
So here are the real solutions (not soundbites from politicians trying to win votes). These are all researched (and linked to) experts who know what they are talking about, and know how to stop the illegal immigrants who are not genuine refugees, while welcoming genuine asylum seekers.
Those fleeing from oppressive regimes have no idea about England’s benefits system, and often no access to the media. They also in many cases do not choose which country to go to, it’s the ‘gangs’ that decide.
In 2021, over 27 people died in frozen waters, when French and British authorities refused to help due the people being ‘in the wrong waters’ so no-one came to help until a French fisherman raised the alarm. Some MPs have even criticised lifeboat crews, for trying to help.
Create world peace. This is the obvious one. The more wars that Trump et al start, the more people try to escape from violent regimes. If you and your family were living on animal feed (and dragging children whose limbs had blown off), you would try to escape too, wouldn’t you?
Refugee Settlement. Ordered airlift programs (like Operation Pitting which helped Afghanistan refugees) takes them to pre-destined safe places (not Rwanda, which has human rights abuse issues).
Register claims in France. At present asylum seekers register their claims in the UK on arrival. But as officials already have a base in France, this could be done before arrival to determine genuine asylum seekers, with no gangs to exploit refugees. The lack of an official legal route is a big issue.
Make UK employment laws stricter. France has very strict employment laws (there are no nail bars or supermarket car washes exploiting immigrants with poor pay and conditions). That’s one big reason why some people try to reach England.
Most Refugees are 100% Genuine
Refugee Council says around 20% of people crossing the channel are children, with 60% classed a genuine refugees. 40% come from just 5 countries (Iran, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan). The last 3 have an asylum ranking of 98%, meaning nearly all are fleeing for their lives.
I think people in this country are fundamentally decent and compassionate, they just want a migration system that is fair. We absolutely need to stop the boats.
But let’s stop the boats by offering safe and legal routes to asylum, and not having people clinging on to dinghies for dear life. Zack Polanski (Green Party leader)
What Would Reform UK Do to ‘stop the boats?’
We all know that the number 1 political policy (and likely why it’s so popular in the polls) is to ‘smash the gangs and stop the boats’). But what is its policy exactly, and would it work better than the above?
The system proposed is to detain (likely in disused RAF bases) and then deport anyone with no legal right to claim asylum. It would also offer £2500 voluntary returns, to encourage people to leave. The aim would be deport hundreds of thousands of people back to Afghanistan and Eritrea, two of the most common countries that illegal immigrants arrive from.
Critics say this would not work for several reasons:
You can’t simply remove people from boats, and send them back to France. As they are making a journey that can drown them (including children) and this is illegal, under maritime law.
Such a scheme depends on international agreements with France (who would be accepting the returned refugees across the channel) and countries of origin (Reform UK would have to deal with the Taliban), enough capacity to detain people and potential legal challenges.
In other words, it may sound like a good idea in theory, but there is no guarantee that it will work, as it won’t just be Reform UK involved, by other countries who would have to get on board.
Nigel Farage’s big claim is that illegal immigration is Britain’s big problem. But my problem with Nigel Farage is that the moment he opens his mouth on this subject, he literally talks nonsense.
Migrants do the jobs that people in the UK don’t want to do. They are the cleaners, the janitors, the security guards, the care workers, the people who literally care for the dying.
They provide many of the people who work on our transport system, because of the anti-social hours that other people don’t want. Migrants are more likely to work, than people born in the UK. Richard Murphy, Tax Research
The Mass Media Is Not Helping
Research by Byline Times (a citizen-funded newspaper) found that TV channel GB News aired claims of an immigrant ‘invasion’ at an average one a day over four months during 2025, with regular complaints to Ofcom not being investigated.
Good Law Project also reports that the channel’s relentless focus on illegal immigrants, is not covering the truth that most people who arrive as immigrants do so legally, and between 60 to 70% of people applying for asylum already live in the UK.
Recently one Lib Dem MP was appalled to view an episode where it was suggested that most defendants charged with sex offences had ‘non-British names’. Tell that to Michael Portillo, one of the channel’s regular presenters.
Turning up to court and counting people with names that don’t sound British to you, is no way to engage with the complex and sensitive topic of immigration. Anna Sabine, Lib Dem MP
