SNP accuse Tories of 'dogwhistle politics' over refugee channel crossings

McDonald told The Sunday National: ‘‘What we need are safe legal routes, and yes we need greater European cooperation, and France does have a role to play here.

‘‘But the signals being sent out by the UK are not helpful. What we are seeing here is that the policies being pursued by the UK Government are all about enforcement.

‘‘There’s millions being spent on putting up fences in Calais and stopping refugees and asylum seekers from crossing the Channel when that’s just shifting the problem around.

‘‘This whack-a-mole stuff that Boris Johnson comes out with is not evidence-based while the Home Secretary is just posturing, it’s all for show, all talking tough.

‘‘And it doesn’t solve the problem which is that people are having to do something so dangerous, jumping in a dinghy and crossing the Channel which they wouldn’t be doing if they weren’t desperate.

‘‘The way these people are being talked about is disgraceful. We should still remember that they are still human beings in a desperate situation.’’

READ MORE: Sky follows BBC's lead with 'vile' report on Channel crossing

McDonald admits that it is frustrating that Scotland cannot pursue its own immigration policy.

He said: ‘‘It is a challenge with the vast majority of powers regarding immigration a reserved matter but we need to adapt a far more humane approach.

‘‘Instead we are seeing that it is all about enforcement, stopping crossings, but no sympathy for those that are making the journeys.

‘‘It is a challenge not just in terms of the powers that we don’t have but also geography with people trying to come over to the UK because they have family connections.

‘These are really, really dangerous routes but they feel they have no option.’

McDonald believes that those refugees who have arrived here have played a positive role in Scottish society.

"In every sector you will see how refugees have brought enormous benefits to the country.

"They have enriched Scottish society, bringing their own range of skills to our businesses and organisations."

The Scottish Refugee Council echoed McDonald’s comments. Chief executive Sabir Zazai said: ‘‘It’s been difficult to watch the news last week but we need to remember that this is not a new phenomenon.

‘‘People have been seeking to come to the UK via northern France for decades. The dangerous, unsustainable situation of people,

including unaccompanied children, living unprotected on the streets of Calais has endured for years.’

He added: ‘‘It is not possible to make a claim for asylum in the UK from outside the country, so people are forced to travel by any means possible to do so.

‘‘We can’t look away from this. We need a better system that upholds the right we all have to seek safety in a third country.’

‘‘The UK needs to immediately revisit and extend its family reunion policy, so that people who are living with the agony of separation from children and parents are provided with safe routes to protection.

"The UK must also create more safe and legal routes into the UK so that people are not forced to risk their lives or forced into the hands of exploitative traffickers in order to travel here.

READ MORE: Refugee Council slams ‘dehumanising’ BBC and Sky News reports

"Many of those who crossed the Channel and other dangerous routes will be recognised as people needing international protection and go on to become our neighbours,

colleagues and friends.

"Nobody would put themselves or their children in a small boat in the Channel unless they thought it was safer than what they were leaving behind.”

Moroccan Mustapha is one such person who fled injustice for what he hoped would be sanctuary here in the UK. He left his family in his early 20s in fear of his life after he converted from Islam to Christianity.

But having integrated into a Christian community here his asylum claim was refused by the Home Office.

He recalled: ‘‘I spent almost two months in detention without knowing what my crime was. My life rocked and deteriorated. Alone in my cell, I stayed awake at night and slept during the day. I was depressed.

‘‘When I was transported to another detention centre, they put me in a prisoner’s vehicle with three other asylum seekers in four separate cells.

‘‘The cell inside the vehicle was dark and exactly the size of the chair I was sitting on. The journey lasted three hours and I screamed for help the whole way. That day I discovered I had claustrophobia. In detention my flashbacks and nightmares grew worse until I was eventually discharged. It was at this stage that I attempted to take my own life.’’

For Mustapha and his fellow asylum seekers the process is long, stressful and takes a heavy toll without guarantee of a positive outcome.