‘We need a deal now to stop the small boats from leaving France’
RISHI Sunak and Suella Braverman must take a new look at how to tackle the “out of control” migrant Channel crossings, a Conservative MP warns.
Natalie Elphicke called on the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to tackle the issue “head on” by stopping boats from leaving France in the first place.
The MP for Dover hit out as figures show that up to 1,000 migrants each day are risking the perilous journey.
Around 40,000 people have made it here in small boats this year, compared with 28,461 in the whole of 2021.
Mrs Elphicke said: “In the most immediate term, action does mean stopping the boats leaving France.
“There are a range of other measures but a number of those are held up in the courts. This crisis is clearly out of control and a fresh approach is needed.
“What has been happening is simply not working, because every single attempt to get on top of this is delayed or thwarted by a rag-bag of people who seem to want open borders.
Uncontrolled
“We’ve seen people object to absolutely everything.That puts people’s lives at risk crossing the Channel and results in this uncontrolled amount arriving.”
Mrs Elphicke urged Mr Sunak to reach a deal with French President Emmanuel Macron for joint patrols and a joint Channel security zone.
Kevin Saunders, former chief immigration officer for the UK Border Force, said: “I would put a cruise liner in the middle of the Channel and put all asylum seekers on that, put it in international waters so they can’t claim asylum because it’s not the UK.”
But Environment minister Mark Spencer insisted a “silver bullet” to fix the migrant crisis did not exist.
“There’s an argument to look at a visa route,” he said, adding there is a shortage of seasonal agricultural workers.