The UK Home Secretary @pritipatel has pledged to make the English Channel 'unviable' for refugees making the crossing by boat. As our humanitarian work in northern France continues, here are a few of the things we deem unviable about the situation on the ground:

-What’s unviable is the over 200 unaccompanied children, currently sleeping rough in Calais and Dunkirk.
- What’s unviable is the hostility and violence of the police and security forces who make life unliveable for people in northern France.

- What’s unviable are the millions that continue to be spent on security measures that ignore the safety, dignity and rights of all people.
- What’s unviable is the complete lack of any access to adequate accommodation and legal services provided by the French state.

This list could go on. As Priti Patel makes thoughtless claims about deploying Navy vessels into the Channel, we are deeply concerned about history repeating itself. We have seen these policies of sea interceptions, pushbacks and criminalisation of rescue missions play out...

over the last few years in the Mediterranean. Thousands of people have died. The UK must be collaborating with France to build hospitable, welcoming and functional asylum systems, and to establish safe and legal routes of passage to ensure no lives are lost.