Robert Jenrick warns Sudan conflict will worsen Channel migrant crisis

Robert Jenrick warns Sudan conflict will worsen Channel migrant crisis as immigration minister plays down chances of Britain taking refugees direct from warzone and blasts ‘humanitarian nimbyism’ of those who ‘virtue signal’ support for asylum seekers

• Robert Jenrick says ‘very significant numbers of people will leave Sudan’

Robert Jenrick today warned the outbreak of conflict in Sudan will worsen the small boats crisis.

The immigration minister noted the north-east African country was already in the top 10 countries from where people crossing the Channel originate.

He acknowledged ‘very significant numbers of people will leave Sudan’ in the coming days and weeks, following the eruption of fighting between rival forces.

Mr Jenrick said the Government was braced for ‘new challenges’ as it seeks to stem the numbers of people arriving in Britain from across the Channel.

Speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank, the immigration minister played down the chances of the UK taking refugees directly from the warzone in Sudan.

But he stressed the Government would ‘do everything we can’ to assist United Nations’ efforts in supporting those who have fled to neighbouring countries.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick warned the outbreak of conflict in Sudan will worsen the small boats crisis

He acknowledged ‘very significant numbers of people will leave Sudan’ in the coming days and weeks, following the eruption of fighting between rival forces

The immigration minister played down the chances of the UK taking refugees directly from the warzone in Sudan

Mr Jenrick was quizzed about Britain’s response to the Sudan crisis after delivering a speech in which he detailed the Government’s planned shake-up of asylum laws.

MPs are tomorrow due to continue their consideration of the Illegal Migration Bill, which has been fiercely criticised by opposition parties.

But Mr Jenrick blasted the ‘humanitarian nimbyism’ of MPs and other politicians who ‘virtue signal’ their support for asylum seekers but then ‘pull up the drawbridge’.

He hailed the Illegal Migration Bill as the ‘single most significant piece of immigration legislation of modern times’ as the Government attempts to ‘stop the boats’.

‘The current numbers of people arriving here illegally surpass any reasonable numbers that the state could be expected to provide for or integrate successfully into our national community,’ Mr Jenrick said.

‘It is the most disadvantaged in our society that feel this most acutely.’

He added: ‘Excessive uncontrolled migration threatens to cannibalise the compassion that marks out the British people.

‘Those crossing tend to have completely different lifestyles and values to those in the UK.’

Mr Jenrick said, by getting a grip on illegal migration, the Government would then have ‘flexibility’ to take in more asylum seekers through legal routes.

But he warned this needed to be ‘calibrated to the actual capacity of local communities and councils to bear the burden’.

‘For too long, politicians have naively glossed over the costs of resettlement and the ability of local authorities to bear them,’ Mr Jenrick added.

Mr Jenrick hailed the Illegal Migration Bill as the ‘single most significant piece of immigration legislation of modern times’ as the Government attempts to ‘stop the boats’

The immigration minister took a dig at ‘humanitarian nimbyism’ from devolved administrations such as the Welsh Government, led by Mark Drakeford

He pointed to a recent study that found the cost to the state from the average asylum seeker from the Middle East or North Africa was roughly 650,000 euros per individual over the course of their lifetime.

In a dig at the Welsh Government, which has declared Wales a ‘Nation of Sanctuary’, Mr Jenrick said: ‘For too long our migration debate has been dominated by humanitarian nimbyism.

‘Whereby MPs and devolved administrations have rhetorically welcomed refugees, but then failed to take their fair share.

‘They declare themselves “nations of sanctuary” and then pull up the drawbridge.

‘These politicians grandstand and virtue-signal their supposed generosity.

‘But there’s nothing virtuous about making generous offers at the expense of others when it comes to housing supply, waiting lists and taxes.

‘Those of us privileged to be in Government and Parliament should never write cheques that cannot be drawn, or which we know will be paid by others.’

Asked after his speech about whether the Government had estimated how many people could travel to Britain in the wake of the Sudan conflict, Mr Jenrick replied: ”It is likely that very significant numbers of people will leave Sudan in the hours and days and weeks ahead.’

He added: ‘It is likely that in time there will be migratory effects of a crisis such as this.

‘Sudan, I believe, has been consistently in the top 10 countries of individuals crossing the Channel in small boats.

‘And so we should expect, in time, for this to lead to new challenges, whether here in the UK or elsewhere in Europe.’

But Mr Jenrick played down the chances of Britain establishing a new scheme – similar to those for Syrian or Afghanistan refugees – to take people direct from the warzone.

‘Consistently we have argued, as a Government, that those in peril should seek sanctuary in the first safe country,’ he said.

‘I know the UNHCR will be operating in all of those countries.

‘We will do everything we can through our development budget and other levers to support the UNHCR and those organisations who will respond to peole when they arrive in those neighbouring countries.’

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