86 migrants attempt to cross the Channel in just 24 hours
MINISTERS have been urged to ‘get a grip’ after more than 100 migrants tried to cross the Channel in two days.
Yesterday two boats carrying 21 individuals were intercepted by Border Force officials off the Kent coast.
On Tuesday, 86 migrants – a record for one day – were detained after trying to make the journey in six flimsy vessels.
One French politician blamed the surge on refugees being given ‘fake news’ by smugglers that the UK’s borders were about to close with Brexit.
But other commentators pointed to the British Government’s welcoming approach towards asylum seekers, with many being allowed to stay in the UK indefinitely.
Dramatic photographs emerged yesterday of migrants wading ashore after landing their inflatable dinghy on a Kent beach popular with holidaymakers.
The pictures, which were taken by a holiday park worker on Tuesday, show refugees, including a small child, carrying their belongings.
About ten people were seen wading ashore at Greatstone Beach in Romney Marsh, which is favoured by bathers and windsurfers.
It came as French authorities released pictures of a man they detained trying to make the perilous 20-mile crossing in a kayak.
The Home Office confirmed that two boats were intercepted off Kent in the early hours of yesterday, having made the crossing in horrific conditions.
One was carrying eight Iranian men while another contained 13 migrants whose nationality was not known, including three children.
More than 1,200 migrants are believed to have attempted the crossing this year.
Pierre-Henri Dumont, the MP for Calais, told the BBC yesterday: ‘Smugglers say to migrants, “If the UK leaves the EU, you will not ever be able to cross the Channel”.
‘It’s a lie, because it won’t change anything. Smugglers are giving fake news to migrants, but it’s for them to earn money. Do you really think controls, police forces, cameras, walls, will stop them from trying to cross? No, never.’
But Alp Mehmet, chairman of lobby group Migration Watch, said: ‘ The idea that Brexit is behind the surge is nonsense.
‘The simple fact is, illegal immigrants know that once they get here, there is every chance they will be allowed to stay.
‘This and the Prime Minister’s suggested amnesty for illegal immigrants is much more likely to be driving the increasing numbers. It really is time that the Government got a grip of this issue.’
Former Home Secretary Sajid Javid promised a crackdown in December by signing off a £20,000a-day bill for the use of two Navy vessels to patrol the Channel.
But critics warned at the time that the move would only encourage more to make the crossing in the belief they would be rescued and brought to the UK.
One charity is expecting the numbers to rise again this week as French authorities carry out forced evictions of migrant camps at Dunkirk and Calais.
Clare Moseley, founder of the refugee charity Care4Calais, said: ‘It’s not that they are not trying to cross now, because they are, but it can only make it worse. At the end of the day they are trying to get their families to safety.’
Two migrants are known to have died trying to make the treacherous journey so far this year.
They include an Iraqi man who drowned while trying to swim across the Channel and a woman who fell from a small boat. Both deaths occurred last month.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We are working closely at all levels with the French authorities to tackle this dangerous and illegal activity. In addition, Border Force cutters are patrolling the Channel and we have already deployed equipment including drones, CCTV and night-vision goggles.’
‘Smugglers giving them fake news’