Border officials under fire over migrant boat secrecy
BORDER officials were criticised last night for refusing to reveal the nationalities of six men caught trying to sneak into Britain in a rubber dinghy.
The suspected illegal immigrants were found huddled in the inflatable by Border Force cutter HMC Valiant on Thursday.
The men were aged between 21 and 34.
But a Home Office spokesman yesterday said it would release no further details of the gang or their operation.
They said releasing additional information, like their countries of origin or where they set sail from, could “seriously prejudice” their case.
The six are now being questioned by officials and are expected to claim asylum here.
It is the second time in a week officials have withheld information on high-profile illegal immigration attempts.
Earlier this week the Daily Express revealed how the Home Office was refusing to say whether or not five Iranian men seized on a south coast beach had absconded.
The five Iranian men, aged between 18 and 44, were held by border officials after sailing from Calais in a dinghy on July 31 on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.
They landed at Winchelsea, East Sussex, in Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s constituency.
The men were later released and told to “report regularly”, but the Home Office has released no further details on their whereabouts. Ukip leadership candidate Diane James said: “The Government just does not want to admit or have the public know the scale of this trade.
“The Government needs to be open…you know, simple things involving honesty and transparency.”
Asylum claims increased by 38 per cent to 34,687 last year – the highest since 2004.
The largest number of applications came from Iran, Eritrea, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan and Syria. Including dependants, the number stood at 41,563.
Daily Express columnist and former Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe said: “If we routinely detained asylum seekers and illegal immigrants we would not have this problem. I have been saying it since 1999.”