Home Secretary James Cleverly will urge developed nations to do more to help would-be migrants “stay and thrive at home” to stop the global migration crisis.
During a speech at the Carnegie Council for Ethics on International Affairs on Tuesday in New York, Mr. Cleverly will encourage countries to invest in international development as well as increase global trade in order to reduce some of the driving factors of migration.
He will also challenge counterparts to dismantle people-smuggling networks and support countries that want to settle more refugees.
“While remaining welcoming and generous, we must also urgently consider the impact that this level of migration has not just on those countries where migrants seek to settle, or through which they transit, but also on the countries they leave behind, and indeed on the migrants themselves.
The Cost of Emigration
He will also warn of the effects of mass emigration on home nations, challenging the notion that relocating people to the West is always the right course of action.“A talent drain can have a devastating effect, causing a flight of capital, huge gaps in the workforce, and security issues,” Mr. Cleverly will say, noting the extreme cost for countries to train professionals who leave the country and take their much-needed skills elsewhere.
“Furthermore, citizens will suffer if their country fails to invest in skills and training and then plugs those gaps with immigration,” he will say.
“Doing the right thing by someone in need doesn’t necessarily mean relocating them to our own country. Central to solving the international migration challenge is doing more, collectively, to help people to stay and thrive at home,” the minister will state.
Calling for a global response to stop mass illegal migration, Mr. Cleverly will say that the UK is leading the way with its migration policy.
‘Goodwill’ of UK Must Not Be Eroded
The home secretary is in New York on the second of a two-day trip to the United States. On Monday, the minister was in San Francisco to speak to leading tech companies concerning the possible uses and critical threats from emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.Discussing his planned migration speech on Monday, Mr. Cleverly said that while he will state it is important for nations like the UK to help those in need from around the world, “I will also make the point that that can’t always mean that we take all those people into our own country.”
Mr. Cleverly continued, “Many people seek asylum and are granted asylum in the UK, we have a strong and proud tradition of that.”
Boat Migration Down by More Than a Third
On Sunday, the provisional numbers for small boat migrant arrivals via the English Channel topped 2,000 for this year. This is 32 percent lower than the total recorded for the same time last year when 2,953 migrants had arrived, but 49 percent higher than the total for this stage in 2022, when 1,482 illegal entrants were recorded.Last year, 29,437 migrants illegally arrived in the UK on small boats, down 36 percent on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
The government said in a statement on Monday that this decrease was achieved in part owing to “international cooperation,” including with France and Albania.
The government said its deal with Tirana had resulted in Albanian arrivals going down by more than 90 percent.
