THE conflict in Ukraine will lead to millions more refugees looking for a safe home across Europe.

There is a long history of offering sanctuary to refugees fleeing war and persecution by European countries.

All refugees are protected and given rights under the 1951 refugee convention and 1967 protocol.

These rights include the principle of non-refoulement, meaning refugees cannot be returned to countries in which they may face serious threats to life or freedoms.

It also includes the right to work, housing and education amongst other things.

At the end of 2020, there were 82.4 million people worldwide who have been forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order.

While we continually hear of a refugee crisis across Europe, only a small proportion of worldwide refugees actually end up in Europe.

Despite the long history of helping refugees the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has reported it has been increasingly worried about the growth of anti-refugee rhetoric used across the continent by various governments.

This is despite numbers of refugees entering Europe falling in the last five years.

In the UK the nationalities and borders bill is the latest in changes to the system.

The bill would mean that the UK authorities could turn back boats of refugees who are entering the UK illegally. Something which would be immoral and illegal.

Use of offshore detention centres are also part of the bill, along with procedural changes which would make it more difficult for people to seek asylum in the UK.

The bill has been described as an attack on the fundamental principles of refugee protection.

The UNHCR believes the UK’s Nationality and Borders Bill would penalise most refugees seeking asylum in the country, creating an asylum model that undermines established international refugee protection rules and practices.

The latest example of the UK making it difficult for people fleeing a war zone looking for safety, is refugees from Ukraine.

Much of Europe has waived visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees in response to the real crisis in the country. The UK has so far refused to do the same. Anyone who wants to come to the UK from Ukraine needs to have family here, or a sponsor in the UK.

Even for those who meet the requirements, visa forms and appointments need to be completed. Despite the urgency of the crisis, since the conflict broke out, only 1% of applicants from Ukraine have been successful.

The nationalities and borders bill, rightly, will clamp down on people traffickers using dangerous routes. But you have to ask why people feel they need to use these dangerous routes? The UK needs to do more to make it easier and safer for refugees to enter the country, rather than introducing laws that would make it harder. At a time of real crisis quick action needs to be taken to meet moral and legal obligations we have to help anyone who is forced to leave the place they call home.