UK government urged to offer ‘safe and legal’ route for asylum seekers as poll shows support

Half of the British public would support the creation of visas allowing asylum seekers to travel safely to the UK, rather than in small boats, new polling suggests.

The new government has not yet put forward any proposals for new safe and legal routes for refugees, and is focusing on creating the UK Border Security Command to target people-smugglers. But polling by Focaldata for the British Future thinktank found that 50% of people, and almost two-thirds of Labour voters, back a scheme in which humanitarian visas could be granted to up to 40,000 people a year with strong asylum claims or links to the UK.

Only 16% of people disapproved of the proposed scheme in the survey, which also showed support for the new government’s move to scrap the Rwanda policy and process the asylum claims of thousands of small-boat migrants who are stuck in limbo. On Friday, four people died when their dinghy sank in the English Channel, the latest tragedy in a record year for crossings that has so far seen more than 14,000 people reach British shores.

Sunder Katwala, the director of British Future, warned that there were “limits to what better policing of the Channel can achieve on its own”. He said: “A humanitarian visa would help open up space for a new deal with France while also providing a safe route for people to claim asylum in the UK, undermining the business model of people-smugglers.

“This evidence shows that Sir Keir Starmer can unlock public permission and support for a fairer and more effective approach.”

The polling, of 2,500 adults, found that half approved of the Labour government’s decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme and spend the money on its new Border Security Command, while only 20% disapproved.

Related: Human rights groups give Starmer blueprint for asylum overhaul

There was support for all key migration policies in Labour’s general election manifesto, with two-thirds of people backing plans to process all asylum applications lodged by people who have reached the UK, and 65% supporting a proposed new returns unit. More than half of respondents also approved of Labour’s plans to end the use of hotels as asylum accommodation and its vow to “act upstream to address humanitarian crises which lead people to flee their homes”.

Campaign groups have long argued that new safe and legal routes for asylum seekers are necessary to reduce demand for small boats. Under UK law, asylum can only be claimed in person on British soil. There is no visa to enter the country for that purpose. Eligibility for refugee resettlement schemes and family reunion is limited. The new government is understood to be evaluating how existing routes are functioning before drawing up any new policies.

Enver Solomon , chief executive of the Refugee Council, said that Friday’s tragedy showed that preventing more deaths was a “critical and urgent task”. He added: “We need to bring an end to men, women and children who have fled war and oppression in countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iran being driven into the arms of the smuggling gangs, by opening safe routes so refugees wanting to be with their families are not forced to take deadly risks.

“We also need to put in place cooperation agreements with our European allies to provide safe passage from France and trial the use of refugee visas.”

The British Red Cross also called for change, with UK director for refugee support Alex Fraser saying: “Nobody risks their life travelling across the Channel in a small boat unless they feel they have no other choice. More safe routes are urgently needed to prevent people from taking dangerous journeys to reach the UK.”

The polling also showed that the new prime minister is more trusted on migration than his political rivals, with a 35% trust rating, compared to 30% for Reform leader Nigel Farage, 25% for Rishi Sunak and 23% for Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey.