UK could join refugee quota scheme

Refugees could be saved from perilous journeys

The UK is considering joining a scheme that may help undermine human trafficking by managing the migration of refugees.

Home Secretary David Blunkett signalled that Britain may join the so-called "gateway" scheme, operated by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

We will ensure that where people are seeking to escape death or torture, there will be new gateways

David Blunkett

Countries who sign up to the system commit themselves to accepting a quota of people fleeing world trouble spots.

Among the countries already signed up to the scheme are Canada, the US and several Scandinavian nations.

Refugee workers believe that if the UK were to join it would encourage other EU member states to follow suit.

Mr Blunkett indicated that he believed joining could play a part in reducing people-smuggling, during a speech to the Refugee Council.

He said it would offer a "rational and meaningful" way for people fleeing war, famine or natural disasters to claim asylum.

It could also mean that many refugees would be saved from embarking on long and perilous journeys to enter the UK illegally, he said.

Channel Tunnel

"I want to reaffirm this government's commitment to the 1951 Convention [on Refugees], but we must make sure that the mechanisms for meeting those obligations are up-to-date and relevant," he said.

"That is why I am looking into the scope for the UK to take refugees nominated by the UNHCR for resettlement here.

"We will ensure that where people are seeking to escape death or torture, there will be new gateways for providing means for them to reach our shores and to do so in the more orderly and collaborative way of the EU or UNHCR."

"It will be possible for people not to come on some other visa and then claim 'in-country asylum', and not to have to hang on to the trains in the Channel Tunnel or hide away in containers across the Channel."

Mr Blunkett's positive comments about the scheme did not amount to a change in policy.

British quota

Aides were quick to stress that no final decision has been taken on the UK joining the gateway scheme.

Nor has a figure been proposed for any British quota, although people working with refugees suggested that a country the size of the UK could be expected to take a few thousand refugees each year.

Only those who are deemed to have a justified case are allocated to one of the host nations' quotas.