👤 Ryan Boyce, Head of Development, Operations, and Impact
The new Labour Together report, A Migration System That Puts Country First, outlines a framework for what is called an ‘Australian-style’ National Migration Plan, aimed at reducing numbers while sustaining economic growth. The think tank is generating ideas that are informing the current Labour government’s policies. While it critiques past failures — broken promises, policy U-turns, and reactive decision-making — its central premise remains flawed: that migration should be shaped primarily by economic utility, rather than by human rights, global realities, or the UK’s obligations to people seeking sanctuary.
At CARAS we stand with our community of refugees and asylum seekers as they navigate the current system. We see first-hand the devastating impact of an increasingly hostile system on those arriving in the UK in search of safety. Many of the young people we support have endured war, persecution, displacement, and loss. The lack of safe, legal routes forces people into desperate journeys, putting their lives at risk. Rather than offering a helping hand to new arrivals to rebuild their lives with dignity, current policies keep them in prolonged limbo — unable to work, access education, or integrate into communities.
Deterrence doesn’t work
The report assumes that migration to the UK is a numbers game that can be one-sidedly controlled. But people are moving for a reason. Global conflict, environmental crises, and economic instability are forcing record numbers of people to flee their homes. The UK is not alone in facing an increase in migration — across Europe, the US, and beyond, similar trends are unfolding.
A growing body of evidence shows that restrictive border policies do not reduce the amount of people migrating or seeking asylum — they only increase the risks people take. The UK’s deterrence approach, from the Rwanda scheme to threats of deportation, has not stopped people crossing the Channel. Instead, it has driven people further underground, making them more vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and abuse. When the asylum system is designed to exclude, as legal pathways are shut down, people are pushed into difficult decisions and unsafe, irregular routes.
Beyond the economy
The report argues that migration should primarily serve the UK’s economic interests. But migration is about people, not just GDP figures. Many of the people seeking asylum in the CARAS community are highly skilled but are prevented from contributing due to restrictive work policies. Meanwhile, young refugees are being denied education, delaying their ability to contribute to the workforce in the long term.
What is often missing from these conversations is an honest assessment of the UK’s role in global migration patterns. Trade policies, military interventions, and climate inaction all shape displacement. We cannot discuss tougher borders without acknowledging why people are on the move in the first place. If we are serious, we need to focus on international cooperation, development, and safe legal pathways, not just ‘cutting numbers’ for short-term political gain.
A system for people
Rather than another attempt to impose arbitrary caps and restrictions, we need a border system built on fairness, dignity, and reality. That means:
- Creating safe and legal routes to prevent dangerous journeys and exploitation.
- Fixing the broken asylum system to ensure people are not left in limbo for years.
- Supporting children and young people into school places within the statutory 20-day target – to continue their education, build social connections and stability.
- Investing in communities, not just control, to ensure services like housing and education are equipped to support new arrivals.
- Recognising migration as a global reality, not a short-term policy problem—and taking responsibility for the UK’s role in global displacement.
Labour has a real opportunity to change the conversation. But it must reject the tired framing of control and restriction and instead focus on what’s truly good for communities around this country: a humane, evidence-based system that upholds the rights of those seeking safety and allows new arrivals to thrive, not just survive.
Our work at CARAS embodies this approach – that our community is everyone who lives in it, whether they’ve been here a long time or not. A strong, inclusive, positive, thriving community is good for everyone.
If not for hardworking organisations like CARAS and others in our sector, too many sanctuary seekers would be denied a helping hand. We need people to not only be brave and support the work of organisations like ours, but we also need the government to rethink its approach to people who are coming to this country seeking safety and the chance at a better life and take the only moral and realistic action. That’s why we’re demanding from the government: Expand safe and legal routes for people seeking asylum. Asylum is a basic, universal human right. The UK government must find the best way to facilitate this right.