UK Border Force Could Be Deployed to Europe Under New Migrant Pact

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border F
Gareth Fuller/PA Images via Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

The United Kingdom has come to an agreement with several European Union nations to tackle the record waves of illegal migrants landing on British shores, which may see UK Border Force agents deployed throughout the bloc.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman came to an agreement with her counterparts in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, alongside representatives from the European Commission in Brussels, on Thursday, which should step up measures to confront the ever-growing Channel migrant crisis.

The commitments made by the so-called ‘Calais Group’ of nations will include expanded cooperation between the British government and Frontex, the European Union’s common external border protection agency.

While the move will initially involve mostly the sharing of intelligence and data, The Telegraph reports that the agreement may later see UK Border Force personnel deployed throughout Europe on training and patrol missions alongside Frontex.

To date, the Border Force in Britain has served as little more than a “taxi service”, ferrying boat migrants from the English Channel to the beaches of Englandrather than actually preventing aliens from reaching the country.

The government ministers in Brussels also agreed to step up cooperation in the joint intelligence cell operating in Calais to catch more people-smugglers. So far, the cell has dismantled 59 organised crime groups involved in illegal crossings since its inception in July of 2020.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “Countries across Europe must work closely together to tackle illegal migration and crack down on the people-smugglers before these issues reach our borders.

“The Calais Group have held constructive discussions today on bringing solutions that will benefit all our countries and to ensure the evil criminals who profit in human misery are targeted and brought swiftly to justice. I look forward to our ongoing cooperation.”

The agreement comes after the Sunak administration agreed to send another £63 million to the French, supposedly step up patrols of their coastline. This comes on top of the hundreds of millions already sent to the safe European country to prevent illegals from setting sail towards Britain — which has consistently failed to stop crossings from increasing — yet there is still no indication that the government is close to coming to an agreement on migrant returns with Paris.

So far this year, over 44,000 illegal migrants have reached Britain by boat alone, the most in recorded history. Despite promises from the Conservative Party to “take back control” of the nation’s borders, illegal boat arrivals have only continued to increase each year, with 28,526 known arrivals last year, 8,466 in 2020, 1,843 in 2019, and just 299 in 2018.

The Conservatives come under increasing pressure over their failure to tackle illegal immigration — or indeed to fulfil repeated promises to the public to reduce legal mass migration.

A poll last month found that nine in ten Britons believe that the government has performed badly on immigration.

A separate survey last week revealed that nearly six in ten Brexit voters would support an alternative party that made migration a central issue over the Tories.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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