Iranians use dinghy to exploit backdoor route to UK

A BACKDOOR route into Britain has been exposed after a group of Iranian migrants successfully travelled across the Channel aboard a small boat.

It fuelled fears of a surge in asylum seekers boating to the UK as politicians warned people traffickers were taking advantage of our weak coastal security.

Four Iranian men were spotted by a member of the public in Dover disembarking from a dinghy in the early hours of Tuesday. They have now entered the immigration system after they were arrested on the beach by Kent Police and handed over to border officials.

Migrants are increasingly attempting dangerous bids to reach the UK by water amid unrelenting pressure on the crossing in Calais. At least 20 incidents have been reported in the last 16 months, with the majority involving migrants from Iran, as well as Ukraine and Albania.

Conservative MP for Dover and Deal Charlie Elphicke last night said there was increasing evidence that an ‘ Iranian trafficking network’ is operating along the route from France. ‘The bottom line is we need to have effective patrols and track down this trafficking network and put the people behind it into prison,’ he added.

The revelations come just weeks after David Bolt, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, issued a warning about dismal security along Britain’s east coast. This followed a doubling in the number of clandestine arrivals between 2014/15 and 2015/16 to 423.

President of the French coastguard association Bernard Barron yesterday said: ‘The fact that surveillance has been stepped up, both in the Channel Tunnel

‘We need effective patrols’

and the port, means it is possible [the boat crossings] will multiply. The people smugglers want to find new scams.’

‘The truck scheme worked well, because it didn’t need any specialist equipment, and it allowed a lot of people to get across at one time. But it is getting more and more difficult.’

Mr Barron said the number of sea crossings was still small and that the journey is ‘extremely difficult and complicated’ for the small vessels often used by migrants.

Smuggling gangs, who reportedly charge up to £12,000 to provide boats, use less busy beaches between Calais and Dunkirk to avoid detection.

Concerns about those hoping to cross the Channel on a boat were also raised by the Royal Yacht Association last month when they warned British boaters to ‘remain vigilant’. Pointing to an increased risk, they urged members to ‘be aware of uninvited guests’.

The problem was highlighted last year when three British men were jailed after being caught smuggling large groups of Albanians into the UK on small vessels.

Other migrants have used less sophisticated strategies that often result in rescue attempts carried out by both the French and British coastguard.

At least eight incidents involving groups of Iranians leaving the French coast or arriving in Britain have also been reported since last April.

Iranians made more asylum requests than any other nationality last year and also had the highest success rate, with 37 per cent of applicants given residency rights at the first attempt.

Concerns about the sea crossing come after it was revealed yesterday that migrants have made 30,000 attempts to illegally enter the UK from Calais this year amid fears of a new ‘Jungle’ camp.

A Home Office spokesman said that investigations into the arrival of suspected illegal migrants at Dover on Tuesday were still ongoing.