Border Force Warns Increase in Illegal Migrants Poses National Security Risk

TOPSHOT - Migrants try to start an outboard engine on board a smuggler's boat on the beach
SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The massive influx of illegal migrants to Britain via the English Channel represents a “significant risk” to the national security of the country, the Border Force union has warned.

In a letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman, the ISU union, which represents the United Kingdom’s Border Force, wrote that it has observed a “substantial” change in the demographics of illegals being brought ashore after crossing the Channel in people-smuggler boats from France.

The Border Force Union said that it has noticed that there has been an uptick in the number of “young, fit males” with suspected ties to criminal organisations.

“We believe this stark change in arrival profile poses significant criminality risks to our Border Security and to UK communities,” the ISU said in its letter, according to The Telegraph.

“The issue has broadened from processing asylum-seekers into a wider threat to our border security,” the ISU said. “We are now seeing greater numbers of young fit male migrants, without clear prima facie asylum grounds – and on occasions not applying for asylum – and with suspected links to organised crime groups.”

The warning comes amid an increase in the number of Albanians arriving via the migrant route, representing approximately six in ten Channel migrants.

Albanians are also vastly overrepresented in Britain’s prison system, with Albanians becoming the single largest group of foreign nationals in UK prisons, a fact often attributed to the strength of organised crime within the country. Concerns have also been expressed over reports that previously deported criminals from Albania, including violent offenders and drug dealers, have been exploiting the waves of illegal migration to sneak back into the country.

The Border Force union also warned of the potential risk of unrest and violence at the new migrant reception centre in Kent, Manston, where upwards of 2,000 people are being held for weeks despite it only being designed to hold 600 for just one or two days. The issue of overcrowding at the reception centre was further exacerbated by the arrival of nearly 3,000 illegals over the past week, taking the total of this year so far to 36,500.

“Detaining large numbers of these migrants under poor conditions for prolonged periods at Manston presents a real risk of serious disorder. There is every likelihood that, as further mass arrivals mount and the situation on site continues to degenerate, these risks will grow beyond ready containment,” the Border Force union said.

“Our members report a deepening spiral of volatility with real potential to explode at any perceived provocation. We genuinely fear we will soon see mass disorder at Manston,” they added.

The national security risk posed by the open borders approach of allowing all illegal boats to be brought ashore in Britain has been a longstanding concern.

Indeed, a report from the government’s independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration in July found that national security was being threatened by the lax approach to security screenings of boat migrants conducted by Border Force.

The report found that migrant checks have become “inexcusably awful”, claiming that border officials were failing to complete even the most basic of steps, including recording names and fingerprints. The failings have seen scores of illegals disappear into the country after absconding from taxpayer-funded hotel accommodation, further raising the spectre of a potential national security threat.

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