Gangs give migrants only enough fuel to make it halfway across the Channel
PEOPLE smugglers are giving migrants only enough fuel to make it halfway across the Channel, the Daily Express understands.
The organised crime gangs are relying on Border Force to rescue asylum seekers from the water because the chances of the dinghies making it to the Kent coast are so slim.
Once the occupants are transferred on to UK vessels, staff check the fuel in the dinghies and remove it.
Sources have revealed the petrol migrants are supplied with is not sufficient to cross the Dover Strait.
The boats, often around 26ft long, are dangerously close to breaking within moments of leaving the French coastline. The engines to power them cannot push the vessels through the water, increasing the risk of sinking.
But it also crucially burns the little fuel they have. The Daily Express has heard examples of migrants being rescued off the French coast after effectively going round in circles for several hours because the boat is unable to break through the water.
Prevent
Some of the fuel also leaks into the middle of the boat, where children sit to prevent them falling into the water.
Illegal Migration Minister Michael Tomlinson said: “We are seeing a change in their methods.
“We are seeing a shift in where they are launching from, they are shifting a little bit further west, making the crossings more dangerous.
“They are piling more people in boats – 50, 60 and even 80 crammed in. They are taking longer journeys, in more marginable conditions, they are taking greater risks because they don’t care if you live or die.
“All they care about is getting that money in their pocket.”
Some 2,006 migrants have reached the UK in 43 boats so far this year after almost 300 made the crossing over the weekend, according to government figures.
At this stage last year, 2,953 people had crossed – almost a third more. Mr Tomlinson added: “This is the moral issue of our time. It is a global issue. It is not just an issue affecting the UK. It’s not just affecting France. We’re seeing it in America, we’re seeing it across the world.”
Asked if Western nations will ever be able to successfully break the people’s smugglers’ business model, Mr Tomlinson said: “That is why we need the deterrent to be up and running. They will know it is not worth while.”
The leader of a notorious Channel smuggling gang was among 19 arrested last week in a landmark probe.
Europol said the Iraqi-Kurdish and Syrian group was “one of the most active” organised crime gangs in northern France, charging migrants between £850 and £2,500 to cross.
They were so sophisticated they could launch eight boats a night from different beaches, investigators said.
Raided
Police arrested five “high value” targets and raided 19 houses and nine storage units.
Chris Tilley, deputy director of Small Boats Operational Command, warned in an exclusive interview that smuggling gangs have become “numb” to deaths and misery.
And he said migrants have died in fights as they desperately try to secure a place on a boat bound for the UK.