Record 88 migrants found crammed into a single dinghy are among more than 1,000 to cross the Channel to the UK as human traffickers show an utter contempt for life
- The packed vessel was intercepted in the Channel and brought to Dover
A record 88 migrants crammed into a single dinghy were among more than 1,000 to cross the Channel in recent days.
The packed vessel was intercepted in the Channel on Sunday and brought to Dover, sources told the Mail.
It highlights the growing disregard for human life by traffickers operating on the French coast and comes despite six migrants drowning earlier this month when a boat capsized mid-Channel. At least 65 people were on board.
The numbers being crammed into dinghies has been creeping up in recent months. Earlier in the crossings crisis, the typical load was about 40 people per boat.
Last week, migrants were pictured straddling the side of a rigid inflatable boat as they headed for the UK.
Border Force officials escort 50 migrants into Dover Docks, Kent. On Tuesday, 661 migrants arrived in 15 boats – the third busiest day this year
Some 337 arrived in five vessels – an average of 67 in each – on Sunday and 130 in three dinghies on Saturday
On Monday, 661 migrants arrived in 15 boats – the third busiest day this year.
This sends the number of arrivals so far this year soaring above 18,000.
READ MORE: TikTok Channel migrant films his journey to the UK in series of astonishing videos showing him travelling by train through France, laughing with friends as they cram onto tiny dinghy
Some 337 arrived in five vessels – an average of 67 in each – on Sunday and 130 in three dinghies on Saturday.
It comes after figures emerged showing that France is intercepting fewer Channel migrants than last year despite a £480million funding deal struck with Britain in March.
Figures compiled by French authorities show that just 13,759 – or 45.2 per cent – of migrants have been stopped by French beach patrols since January.
This was down from the 17,032, or 45.8 per cent, over the same period last year.
Yesterday, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think-tank warned that the cost of housing migrants in hotels could top £5billion a year if the small boats are not stopped.
Authors said the backlog could become permanent, with thousands of people needing long-term accommodation and support. More than 130,000 already await processing.
Marley Morris, from the IPPR, warned that ‘under most plausible scenarios, arrivals will still outpace removals’ even if the Government’s Rwanda policy is approved and the Illegal Migration Act fully implemented.
Border Force officers at the Dover Docks. Figures emerged showing that France is intercepting fewer Channel migrants than last year despite a £480million funding deal struck with Britain
Lifeboats bring ashore migrants to Dover on Monday, some have fuel burns and lacerations and one with body injuries
Migrants sit onboard an inflatable boat in Sangatte, northern France, in July before attempting to cross the English Channel to reach Britain
The Rwanda policy, under which asylum seekers would be flown to stay in accommodation in the African nation, is on hold awaiting a court ruling over whether it is legal.
The IPPR report said that, in 2021, Rwanda received 408 asylum applications and made 487 asylum decisions.
READ MORE: Dozens of migrants desperately clamber onto dinghy trying to reach Britain before French police intercept them…on the day Bibby Stockholm asylum seeker barge arrives in Dorset
But under Britain’s Rwanda policy, it would need to process tens of thousands of applications, which the report concluded was ‘far-fetched’.
It added: ‘Even if the arrangement to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda is found to be lawful, it is expected that only relatively small numbers will be removed in practice.’
Under the Illegal Migration Act, migrants who arrive illegally are barred from claiming asylum.
The report said this would lead to a ‘perma-backlog’ of migrants who could neither apply for asylum in the UK nor be removed to a third country.
Even in the best-case scenario, the IPPR predicts that the backlog would reach 200,000 people in the five years after an election and would cost the taxpayer £5.64billion in accommodation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s vow to ‘stop the boats’ is one of his five key pledges to voters.
Parliament has passed tough new immigration laws which allow migrants who arrive by irregular routes – such as small boats – to be ‘detained and swiftly returned’ to their homeland or a third country.
But on Monday, Mr Sunak appeared to admit that his pledge to stop the Channel boats will not be fulfilled before the next election.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The Illegal Migration Act will help to clear the asylum backlog by allowing us to detain and swiftly remove those who arrive here illegally.
‘While we operationalise the measures in the Act, we continue to remove those with no right to be here through existing powers.
‘We are also on track to clear the “legacy” backlog of asylum cases. It has been reduced by nearly a third since the start of December and we have doubled the number of asylum decision-makers over the past two years.’
Source: Read Full Article
