In response to the Foreign Secretary’s announcement to target people smuggling gangs with new sanctions, Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, said:

“There’s nothing progressive whatsoever about failing yet again to provide safe travel alternatives for people seeking asylum so they can avoid dependency on people smugglers.

“The proposals for sanctions - assuming there’s capacity to even implement them - will only increase the many obstacles already faced by people to escape persecution and conflict.

"The Government must urgently focus on sharing rather than shirking responsibility for providing asylum, working with other countries to provide safe alternatives for refugees to cross borders.

“If the Foreign Secretary is genuinely interested in developing a progressive migration policy, he must promote reform of the UK’s immigration system in ways that enable the movement of people who most need to cross borders, show equal respect for everyone regardless of race, religion or national origin, and advance global equality rather than reinforce the status quo.”