Nearly 300 Illegal Migrants Land in Britain over the Weekend, Taking Total to over 2,000 So Far This Year

DEAL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Border Force Officials recover a dinghy after migrants lande
Luke Dray/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Nearly 300 illegal migrants landed on British soil over the weekend, taking the total number of migrants who arrived in the UK this year to over 2,000.

On Saturday, the UK’s Border Force confirmed it had intercepted and brought ashore 185 illegal aliens after crossing the English Channel in small rubber boats from France.

The flow of migrants continued on Sunday, as another 92 people were taken in, according to BBC reporter Simon Jones.

An analysis conducted by the Daily Mail found that the latest Channel crossings put the total number of illegals who have been recorded to have reached Britain this year to 2,293, more than the entire year of 2019, which saw 1,890 arrive.

2020 was a record year for illegal boat migration, with over 8,400 migrants arriving in the UK. However, despite promises to “take back control” of migration following the country’s official departure from the European Union, the flow has only increased.

Last week, some 375 migrants attempted the journey in one day. While French authorities managed to stop 166 and take them back to France, British Borden Force brought to England the remaining 209, representing the highest daily number of the year.

Projections carried out by The Telegraph in April predict that 20,000 migrants will successfully reach the UK by illegally crossing the English Channel from France. Other predictions have suggested that the number could reach as many as 25,000.

A spokesman for Home Office told the Daily Mail on Sunday: “We are working closely with our partners in France to stop these unnecessary journeys and the ruthless criminal gangs behind them.

“As a result, more than 2,500 people have been prevented from making the dangerous crossing so far this year, and we have also secured 65 small boat-related prosecutions since the start of 2020.

“There is more work to be done and our New Plan for Immigration will fix the asylum system, cracking down on the business model of people smugglers who put lives at risk by facilitating dangerous journeys into the UK.”

In March, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced a swathe of proposals that will supposedly seek to mend the UK’s “broken” asylum system, including blocking migrants who enter the country illegally from obtaining citizenship or from applying for leave to remain status.

Yet, there has been little indication that Britain will adopt a unilateral turn-back-the-boats approach, called for by many, including former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who spearheaded a successful anti-illegal immigration effort during his time in office.

The latest crossings come as a report from The Sun has revealed that around 500 migrants are returning to the UK per year despite being deported.

Figures reported by the newspaper claim that in the last three years, there were 1,684 cases of failed asylum seekers getting back into the country after being kicked out. Of those, 88 were successful in convincing the government to grant them asylum status.

In one instance, a failed asylum seeker was deported to Italy (the country where the migrant first entered the EU) yet returned to Britain the very next day to launch a fresh application.

Broken down by nationality, the so-called “boomerang” migrants included people from Somalia, Libya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Iraq, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Commenting on the revelation, Migration Watch UK chairman Alp Mehmet said: “The ease with which failed asylum seekers have been able to creep back into the UK is nothing short of a disgrace.”

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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