‘National Humiliation’: 1,000 Illegal Boat Migrants Reach UK in 10 Straight Days of Channel Crossings

Dinghies are seen stored in a Port Authority yard, believed to have been used by migrants
BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Over 1,000 illegal boat migrants crossed the English Channel in small rubber dinghies in just 10 days this month, as Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage brands the growing crisis a “national humiliation”.

Between the 4th and 13th of August, some 1,004 illegal migrants were brought ashore by UK Border Force. This is over half the total number of migrants recorded to make the illegal journey during the entirety of 2019.

The latest arrivals take the total number of recorded boat migrants to 4,511 since the start of the year, according to an analysis conducted by the Press Association news agency. This is compared to 1,890 in the whole of last year.

The Home Office said on Saturday that 89 boat migrants in five boats were brought ashore on Thursday and another 48 migrants in four boats were taken ashore on Friday.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has reportedly blamed the massive increase in the scale of the illegal migrant wave on a belief held by migrants that France is a “racist country”.

In a call with MPs, Ms Patel is alleged to have said that “migrants are coming here because France is racist”, a source told The Times.

“France is perceived by migrants to be a more racist country than Britain because they can’t get work there,” a source close to the home secretary went on to explain.

In response to the 10 straight days of illegal migrant landings, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said: “This is a national humiliation.”

Mr Farage also went on to say that he feels sorry for Home Secretary Patel, saying that he believes she has been “left high and dry” by the rest of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government.

“She’s a conservative, which is a very rare thing in the current Conservative cabinet because they’re mostly a bunch of kids with rich daddies, who play at politics, they’re absolutely careerists,” Farage told the Planet Normal podcast.

“The real problem is that Boris isn’t really a Conservative, is he? I mean Boris is a metro liberal. Boris, as Mayor of London, more than once talked about having amnesties for all illegal immigrants who were in London,” the Brexit leader added.

“He does not seem to have the political will to deal with this,” Farage concluded.

In a statement, the Home Office said: “The home secretary is clearly frustrated by the increasing number of small boats crossing the Channel — this is compounded by the fact that we are currently restricted in our response by EU regulations.

“That is why the home secretary is committed, along with other government departments and No 10, to ensuring we have legislation ready following the end of the transition period.

“This legislation will build on our continuing work with the French government to stop these crossings and the small boat commander, Dan O’Mahoney, will be visiting France again this week for further discussions.”

Follow Kurt on Twitter at @KurtZindulka

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