‘Led by Idiots’: UK Govt Floats Idea of Disabling Migrant Boats with Nets

DOVER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 22: Border Force officials unload migrants, that have been inte
Luke Dray/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

In response to the widening boat migrant crisis, the British government is planning on deploying nets to “disable” the rubber dinghies used by migrants in the English Channel in their attempts to reach British shores.

The latest scheme to reduce illegal immigration into the UK was floated by Clandestine Channel Threat Commander Dan O’Mahoney, who claimed that the method is “very close” to being deployed and that it would represent a “safe return tactic”.

“We definitely are very, very close to being able to operationalise a safe return tactic where we make an intervention safely on a migrant vessel, take migrants on board our vessel and then take them back to France. The problem with that currently is that the French won’t accept them back to France,” O’Mahoney told The Telegraph.

He said that the net scheme will be one of many “which we may deploy over the next few months. But given that we’re not using them yet I’m not at liberty to go into detail about them … We are working with maritime security departments across law enforcement and military, everywhere across government and come up with new tactics to tackle this problem.”

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage derided the scheme as the “latest genius idea” from the Home Office, saying: “The props will foul and boats will either drift in the shipping lanes or get dragged under when the tide rips. This will kill people.”

“Better to return illegals, not drown them. We are led by idiots,” Farage added.

Dan O’Mahoney said that the UK is seeking to implement a four-part plan that would see government look to stop mass migration from Africa and the Middle East into northern France in the first place, and attempt to cut the numbers of migrants setting sail for Britain from the French coast, including by helping dismantle migrant camps.

The government is also looking to physically prevent migrants from reaching the UK mid-Channel, including the net method, and finally, reform Britain’s asylum system in order to reduce the “pull factor” incentives for migrants to come to the UK.

“It is illegal to cross the channel in a small boat and we arrest people for illegal entry on their arrival in the UK, but it is also then legal for them to claim asylum. And that doesn’t feel right,” O’Mahoney said.

For months, Boris Johnson’s nominally Conservative government has suggested a myriad of ideas to halt the flow of illegal migration, including using the Royal Navy to turn back boats, housing and processing migrants on ferries, sending migrants to Ascension Island, and even by creating floating walls in the English Channel.

Yet the government has been incapable of implementing these ideas, as France has been unwilling to cooperate with the British. The result has been a record year for illegal migration, with over 7,100 migrants being recorded to have reached the UK since January.

The number of clandestine arrivals has also reached record highs, climbing above 300 per day, with other modes of entry such as rail and air being largely abandoned during the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result of the failures to halt illegal migration, combined with the China virus, the government has taken to housing supposed asylum seekers in hotels all across the country. The pitfalls of this strategy were tragically demonstrated when a Sudanese migrant went on a stabbing spree in Glasgow, after reportedly complaining about the quality of his taxpayer-funded hotel accommodation.

The strain put on housing facilities has recently forced the government to commandeer former army barracks and other military facilities to house the overflow of migrants.

Further diminishing the government’s stated aim to reduce migration, the government announced on October 2nd that it would be flying in more migrants from camps in Greece in a family reunification scheme.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here: @KurtZindulka

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.