“I’m a former general turned charity boss – here’s how to stop the boats” | The world

Boats run by criminal gangs. Refugees stuck in expensive hotels. It’s easy to see why many people want the government to stop illegal migration.

As a retired Major General who heads one of the UK’s largest overseas charities, I see a way to tackle the problem.

Instead of paying billions to keep refugees in hotels, Britain could invest more in programs to help people stay closer to their safe homes.

The HALO Trust was established in Afghanistan in 1988. We are famous for destroying landmines – thanks to Princess Diana, who visited us in Angola in 1997.

But we destroy much more than landmines. We clean up unexploded bombs and missiles. And we help secure rifles, pistols and bullets. In short, we handle whatever happens. How does this relate to the small craft crisis?

Recent statistics tell us that the largest group of illegal migrants coming to Britain is from Afghanistan. Many come here because life is too dangerous for them at home.

Landmines and other explosives prevent farmers from growing crops and prevent children from going to school safely. What if he shouldn’t have come here in the first place?

Life in Afghanistan today is hard, especially for women and girls, who are denied the most basic rights. But deadly landmines are indiscriminate and destroy the country for everyone.

If you remove these explosives, people can live safely in their own country without risking their lives at sea in search of a better future.

I have seen entire cities built on former battlefields or minefields in Afghanistan. I spoke with displaced Afghan families who had built new homes on land I had cleared. But handing over safe, cleared land is not enough. People also need livelihoods.

The HALO Trust was founded by two Scottish ex-soldiers who trained locals in Afghanistan to clear mines to a professional standard. They rightly believed that employing locals was a better idea than paying high salaries for Western military personnel to do the same.

Today, HALO has 12,000 highly trained women and men working in nearly 30 countries. In Afghanistan alone, we employ more than 2,000 people. Each employee has approximately 20 dependents on the salary.

So over 40,000 people can stay in Afghanistan, supported by a decent local wage. But it doesn’t end there: we estimate that four million Afghans make their living on land provided by HALO.

The British taxpayer helped these Afghan families build a life in Afghanistan, rather than risking their lives on illegal boats or living in limbo in British seaside resort hotels.

It costs the Government just £2 million a year to help HALO support over 40,000 Afghans and keep many, many more safe at home. Compare that to the millions of pounds Britain spends every day housing Afghans here.

It’s a similar story for Syria, Iraq and Libya, where HALO also operates. And with Gaza under rubble and over a million people already displaced in Lebanon, we know more refugees will want to be on the move.

The Labor government has an opportunity to reframe overseas aid as a form of defense rather than altruism or “woke tokenism”.

By funding organizations like HALO to clear up after the conflict, sir Keir Starmer has an economic and humane solution that helps combat migration at source.