42 migrants pulled from the Channel
Three groups try to cross in tiny boats in one weekend
THE Home Office was yesterday accused of losing control in the Channel after 42 people made the hazardous crossing from France in three incidents over the weekend.
A small boat carrying 16 men, women and children was stopped on Saturday on the 22-mile journey.
Two more vessels – one with six adults and eight children as young as two, and another with 12 adults – were intercepted yesterday. The 42 arrivals – mainly Iranians or Iraqis – are believed to be the highest number in one weekend this year. It means around 200 migrants have been picked up so far this year.
It raises questions about a £ 6million action plan announced by Britain and France earlier this year to combat a surge in migrants.
Last night there were also fears it might herald the start of a surge in arrivals as people-smugglers take advantage of improving weather to test Britain’s leaky borders.
Charlie Elphicke, Tory MP for situation Dover is and incredibly Deal, said: serious. ‘The The Home Office and French authorities do not look in control. There is a real risk of a tragedy in the English Channel if action is not taken.
‘We risk more arrivals and a return to the bad old days of the Calais Jungle as the weather improves.’ He called for a cross-Channel security zone with round-the- clock aerial surveillance to spot migrants and return them immediately to France.
He also insisted efforts should be stepped up to catch people-traffickers fuelling the crisis. Twelve men, two women and two children are understood to have been crammed into a dangerously overloaded small boat when they were found on Saturday. French authorities alerted the Border Force, which deployed a cutter to intercept the vessel. The group were brought to Dover where they were handed to immigration officials. The following day a lifeboat in Dover rescued 14 migrants, including eight children, from a tiny dinghy.
In scenes filmed by Sky News, the crew could be seen lifting aboard one child who looked to be no older than five. Border Force officers also intercepted a vessel with a dozen adults heading towards Folkestone the same day.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared the soaring number of migrants arriving in Kent a ‘major incident’ in December. A total of 539 migrants tried to travel to the UK on small vessels last year. Among the attempts this year, packed boats made the crossing four days running in February. A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Anyone crossing the Channel in a small boat is taking a huge risk with their life and the lives of their children.’ Iranians living in a camp in Calais have said warmer weather encourages desperate migrants to save cash by cutting out people-smugglers. Mohsen, 33, a teacher from Tehran, said: ‘ When it is warmer they feel safer. ‘It can be £10,000/£11,000 each to pay a smuggler but it is £5,000 for a boat which can take ten or 12 people.’
‘Real risk of tragedy’