Do we need to discourage irregular movement so that we can establish an orderly asylum process?

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When someone is forced to flee, they often need to leave quickly and secretly. They may not have documents and cannot wait for processes. In any case, most countries do not allow people to apply for protection overseas. They also make it very difficult for many people to enter a country even temporarily.

There are things we could do to make journeys safer. Better protection for refugees in the Asia-Pacific, for example, would mean fewer refugees would feel forced to continue their journeys.

Tough border policies also encourage smugglers to take greater risks with people’s lives by, for example, not spending money to make boats safer.

In the end, when people are forced to flee danger, the process will always be messy.