Another 200 Illegals Land in Britain as Channel Crisis Continues Record-Setting Pace

Migrants picked up at sea while attempting to cross the English Channel, are pictured on a
BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The migrant crisis in the English Channel is continuing its record-setting pace into the new year, with nearly another 200 illegal boat migrants known to have been brought ashore in England at the weekend.

The latest crossings come amid proposed plans from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to deploy the Royal Navy to the Channel to supposedly stem the tide of small rubber boats filled with illegals setting off from French beaches.

On Saturday, another 197 boat migrants made the perilous journey across one of the world’s busiest waterways in seven separate boats. French authorities claimed to have stopped an additional 95 migrants from making the illegal trip, the BBC reports. The Saturday figures are the latest made public so far.

So far this year, approximately 750 migrants have been recorded reaching Britain. The number of crossings on Saturday nearly matched the total for the entire month of January in 2021, when 223 were seen landing in England from France.

Last year saw over 28,000 illegals make the journey across the Channel, more than triple seen in the previous record-setting year of 2020 when around 8,400 landed.

Brexit champion Nigel Farage has predicted that the UK could see “at least 60,000” migrants come across the English Channel this year but warned that figure could reach as much as 80,000 if the government continues to take a lax approach.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is facing calls to resign over his apparent breaches of coronavirus restrictions while the rest nation was stuck under lockdown, has launched the so-called “Operation Red Meat” strategy of pushing agenda items long-desired by his more conservative base such as announcing the eventual end to the BBC licence fee.

Another such policy is reported plans to send the Royal Navy into the English Channel to stop the migrant crisis.

While the policy is generally popular, some, including Brexit’s Nigel Farage have warned that in light of the government failing to reach an agreement on migrant returns with France, the Royal Navy will merely replace the Border Force as a “taxi service” in ferrying migrants ashore at the Port of Dover.

Commenting on the proposal on his primetime show on GB News on Monday, Mr Farage said it is unlikely that the Royal Navy would physically turn around the migrant boats, noting that with such small dinghies the sea manoeuvre is “pretty much impossible” to do safely. Should the navy ferry the migrants back to France, it would likely cause a diplomatic incident.

“All you’re really doing is you are replacing one taxpayer-funded taxi service, which is what Border Force has been, replacing them with the Royal Navy,” Farage said.

Mr Farage also pointed to the quietly dropped policy from the government last week to allow asylum seekers, which at present includes migrants who make the illegal journey across the Channel, to work in care homes after residing within the UK for one year.

Home Secretary made the policy change, with asylum seekers previously being barred from working in Britain, amid widespread shortages in the care home industry following the government’s decision to bar unvaccinated health professionals from the industry.

The Brexiteer said that because of the policy change, the “net effect” will see “even bigger incentives” for migrants to try to reach Britain despite the mooted naval deployment.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here: @KurtZindulka

COMMENTS

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