Keir Starmer faces three demands to tackle small boats at EU leaders summit

Keir Starmer must use today's crunch EU talks to agree radical steps to tackle small boat crossings, campaigners say.

So far at least 11 people have died this year trying to cross the Channel and more than 12,000 have reached the UK in dangerous vessels. The PM has been urged to expand safe routes and compel European leaders to take back people with an active asylum claim in their country.

A damning report by the Refugee Council today says the current enforcement approach is not working. Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst, at the charity, said: “The Government is right to tackle the awful gangs that profiteer from desperate people who are simply trying to find safety.

"But the fact remains, that these measures alone are so far not achieving the intended outcome, with deadly crossings rising. Most men, women and children taking these journeys are fleeing countries like Sudan, where war is forcing them from their homes.

"No one risks their life on a flimsy boat in the Channel unless they are running from horrors more acute than what they find on the sea."

A report by the Refugee Council demands leaders create a new way for people to travel safely to claim asylum, with a focus on family reunion. It also said people in the UK should be returned to other EU countries if they already have an active asylum case under consideration.

And the document says the UK should agree to become part of a "solidarity mechanism" - meaning it will help out EU countries struggling to accommodate asylum claims.

Mr Featonby said: “These rising numbers mean the Government must immediately move from enforcement-only to a comprehensive approach which also includes cross-national co-operation and ensuring refugees can access safe and legal pathways."