This summer we have seen just how connected everyday life in Folkestone and Hythe is to the conflicts that are ripping apart countries like Syria, Iraq and Libya. It might be tempting for some people to believe that no matter how tragic, these are troubles in far away countries that have little to do with us, but that view would be completely wrong.
A combination of civil war, terrorism and the atrocities committed by ISIL forces have caused the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War. In July and August we have been directly affected by this crisis as a result of migrant activity in the Calais area disrupting our vital cross channel transport links. Local businesses have lost customers because of Operation Stack and haulage firms have had their vehicles and loads damaged by refugees seeking to smuggle themselves into the United Kingdom.
Our response to this growing migration crisis in Europe has rightly been focused, over the last few weeks, on securing our own borders. The investment by our government in new security fencing at Calais and Coquelles, allied to new joint policing operations between the British and French forces has led to a dramatic reduction in the disruption to services at the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Calais. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has also set out that there needs to be a wider response from the whole European Union to address the migration crisis. This requires greater efforts to pick up migrants as they enter Europe, either by crossing the Mediterranean Sea or making the journey by land through Greece and Serbia. Other countries on these routes should be investing in improving their border security and providing facilities to process the asylum applications of refugees where they enter the European Union. There should also be a fairer way of determining in which European countries asylum seekers should be granted refuge, so that the burden does not fall disproportionately on just a few.
All of these measures though would simply be necessary steps to try and manage the migrant crisis better, rather than addressing the even greater challenge of preventing it. Until there is stability and lawful government once more in countries like Syria, the problem will remain. There are undoubtedly large numbers of refugees who are fleeing persecution in their home countries, and may have witnessed members of their family being killed by ISIL’s murder gangs. Two years ago, the House of Commons was asked to support a motion that would allow our air forces to intervene in Syria to take action to try to prevent atrocities in that country. I supported that motion but at the time there were not enough MPs in favour to carry it through. We were told then that our intervention would make matters worse and encourage the recruitment of more people in Syria and Iraq to join ISIL. We have now seen what non-intervention looks like. The biggest losers have been the people of Syria, but the whole of Europe is feeling the consequences. We must now consider what further steps the UK can take, along with other European nations and the USA, to close down ISIL’s regime of terror in Syria and Iraq for good.
