Europe faces a wait of at least a decade before it can resolve the migration crisis, Keith Vaz says

The Home Affairs Select Committee, chaired by Labour MP Keith Vaz, has today published its findings after year-long inquiry into the “colossal” problem facing the continent.  Its conclusions are damning about the handling of a crisis which has seen thousands of migrants die as they try to cross the sea to reach Europe.

Speaking to PoliticsHome about the report, Mr Vaz does not mince his words: “This is a crisis that has been coming for some time but the EU seems to be unable to predict, estimate or take urgent action and deal with the problem. As a result of which, you've got a million of people crossing over and dying in the process.”

The report makes some recommendations about what more the UK Government can do to address the problems thrown up by the crisis – but the Labour MP admits some may seem insignificant when set against the historic movement of people.

One such proposal is that 157 unaccompanied children in Calais with links to Britain should be allowed to enter the UK straightaway. “They should be here by now”, says Mr Vaz abruptly.

“If we're looking at what we want done, it's the 157 unaccompanied children who are in Calais should be given the right to come here quickly. They have family in Britain and we should let them come because otherwise they're just staying in Calais.”

However, he is cool on the idea of accepting 3,000 unaccompanied children who have already made the journey to the EU – a policy touted by many of his parliamentary colleagues.

“We seem incapable of taking 157 so could we please deal with and show that we can do this quickly and then we can deal with any other factors,” he explains.

Another factor contributes to his reluctance; the report warns that allowing more unaccompanied children into the country could act as a pull factor for anyone considering making the perilous journey.

“I'm still more in favour of taking unaccompanied children from the camps themselves because otherwise you get parents sending them across hoping without knowing that they're going to be in someone’s care.”

Another way to decrease the number of refugees attempting to reach Europe would be stop the people smugglers, a “war” which Mr Vaz thinks is being neglected. “The [UK Navy] vessels should be used to try and break up these criminal gangs because we are at war. This is a war, a sea war with criminal gangs.”

But he quickly makes clear that it would be impossible to force the EU to act on this as a bloc: “We can't recommend this to the EU because the EU isn't accountable to us but we can tell the government to do this.”

The Labour MP says politicians should take a lead in urging their local authorities to take more refugees – whether adults or children. He praises Scotland for taking in the most refugees so far, but says those in ministerial posts should be following suit.

“All they have to do is take one family,” he says of some Cabinet members’ constituencies.

But Mr Vaz does not go as far as to say that MPs should open their homes to refugees, despite some making warm noises about the idea was put to them in the past.

“They don't need to do this. They just need to make sure that they encourage their local authorities to do it. Some political leaders like Nick Clegg and others suggested it but it's not happened. I think there is a mechanism for dealing with this. So I think we should get on and divide them up.”

To address something on this scale, Mr Vaz is clear that the UK needs to keep cooperating with other EU member states, after the Brexit vote has become a reality. “I think we're going to have to [have deals in place already to counteract the effect of leaving the EU],” he says.

On the process of leaving, the Labour MP says we “all know” leaving could have a big impact on the crisis but says “we've got to try and ensure that it doesn't have that impact.”

“You can't leave this to the EU because the EU has failed so miserably to deal with this. We all have to be there together. We are all European countries. Coming out of the EU doesn't mean that we don't have responsibilities for those that are in dire need.”

After the Paris terror attack last year, Mr Vaz says the best way to stop terrorists using the refugee route as a “cloak” to reach the EU is better security on the bloc’s outer borders.

He makes clear that the UK has a stake in this, despite being outside the Schengen free movement zone. “That should be a big concern for Britain,” he says.

“Daesh must be looking at this as a way of getting in because through normal methods it will be quite difficult. They will be on watchlists. Returning Jihadists would be spotted.”

Last summer, Angela Merkel announced an open border policy for Syrian refugees, something which has been met with both applause and scorn. Mr Vaz says the policy clearly came from “the heart and not from the head”, adding that it has led to a number of problems for other member states.

“When you make announcements like you want everyone to feel that they can come to live in your country, you have to remember that there are a number of countries on the way to Germany that need to be lined up and unfortunately they weren't and that's why they have that problem.

“She spoke very movingly and she can speak obviously on behalf of Germany and Germany has the capacity to do this so well done to her, but there are implications. The implications are that you have to deal with the countries that are in front of you and that's why we've had these horrible scenes of borders being closed so it should have been done with agreement but there's an example of the biggest country in Europe making a decision themselves and then seeking an agreement.”

Only a portion of the arrivals are from Syria, however, and Mr Vaz recognises that there are other geopolitical crises contributing to mass migration.

“There should be more focus on all countries going through turmoil. But the migration crisis is not going to be resolved, in my view, it's going to be with us for the next decade. That long. And more will come unless we put in effective means of destroying the criminal gangs and helping countries that are in need and are the end of the day, these are foreign policy issues both in Libya and in Syria and they do need to be resolved...

“Having studied this for a year, if we stop bombing Syria and we did a deal and if we got a solution to Libya and we used international development, the pull factor will disappear. We're not doing enough in those countries, that's the issue.”

He says he hopes the report will make a difference: “I hope the Government will act. That's the point of producing reports of this kind. At the end of the day, it's in our interests, our national interests to make sure that it acts.

“It's a huge problem, and that's why it needs to be tackled in a number of ways."

Unicef and Save the Children have responded to the report. 

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