Priti Patel is turning her back on refugees...
Just 353 refugees were resettled in the UK last year. The Government must provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary.Priti Patel says refugees should come to the UK through safe and legal routes, and is threatening to punish any who don't. But at the same time, the Conservative Government is failing to provide any safe and legal routes for refugees to take. The Government's latest figures show that just 353 refugees were resettled in the UK in 2020-21 - a drop of 93% since the previous year. The UK has a proud history of providing sanctuary to those in need, but now the Conservatives are turning their backs on refugees. Their failure to provide safe and legal routes is pushing desperate, vulnerable people into the hands of people smugglers and human traffickers. Priti Patel's tough rhetoric and cruel policies only increases their profit margins. "We thank your government for our full pockets," one smuggler told the Guardian recently. That's why the Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to make an ambitious, ten-year commitment to resettle 10,000 vulnerable refugees a year from Syria and other dangerous conflict areas. Because that's how we will actually combat these criminal gangs and prevent people from making dangerous attempts to cross the Channel and the Mediterranean. |