The current asylum system in the UK is not fit for purpose, and new Government legislation risks causing further hardship and misery for men, women and children seeking safety.

It isn’t too late to create an asylum system in the UK which treats everybody with fairness and humanity, regardless of how they have arrived here. We have set out a six-point action plan which ministers could immediately put in place:

► Give refugees and people seeking asylum a fair hearing in the UK, no matter how they arrive, in keeping with commitments to international law.

► Pilot refugee visas which people seeking asylum could apply for at embassies and other official sites around the world, to enable safe routes to the UK.

► Make it easier for families separated by war and violence to reunite by expanding existing schemes, including by letting separated refugee children be joined by their closest family members.

► Expand the UK’s resettlement schemes, establishing a target for those resettled under a single scheme and ensuring people are appropriately housed in the community with support to integrate. The UK should also flexibly respond to global emergencies and provide protection through emergency visa schemes and expanded family reunion routes.

► Deliver on the Prime Minister’s pledge to reduce the backlog of people waiting for a decision on their asylum claim.

► Collaborate with the French Government and other EU countries to make it safer for people to seek protection across the continent and to further crack down on people smugglers.

Join our campaign for a Fair and Humane Asylum System to receive updates on the recommendations we’re putting forward to protect those seeking safety, providing safe routes to the UK and tackling the problems in the asylum system.

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