‘Close the corridor,’ says Johnson, as France urged to control migrant flow

Border officials warn of ‘humanitarian crisis’ amid unrest and rising numbers at Dover processing centre

THE French are not doing enough to stop migrants reaching the Channel, says Boris Johnson, as he called on France to “close the corridor”.

The Prime Minister accused France of failing to stop migrants leaving the beaches as it emerged they prevented less than 10 per cent from reaching the UK on a record day of crossings on Thursday.

Some 1,185 migrants crossed the Channel in 33 boats on Thursday, the highest daily total on record, according to the Home Office. By contrast, France’s border forces stopped just 99 migrants in seven boats, thought to be the lowest daily proportion for months.

Speaking on a visit to Sidcup in Kent, the Prime Minister said: “We have a problem, they’re coming from France, in the end the French authorities will not or cannot control these departures.”

He said this failure provided an incentive for more migrants to enter France from the south. “What I would say to our French friends is, if you close off the door to the corridor at the far end, then people won’t come into the corridor at the other end,” he said.

“We need to close down that movement from the French beaches to the UK if you want to stop people coming into France to come to the UK.”

He admitted that once they were in the Channel, it was “very difficult for us to turn them back at sea”.

The 1,185 people who reached England on Thursday took the total for 2021 to more than 23,500, nearly treble the total for 2020. More than 3,500 people have crossed the Channel this month, four times the November 2020 total of 791. The previous daily record was 853 set earlier this month.

A Government source said the French response was “disappointing” and “frustrating” after interior minister Gerald Darmanin pledged to increase the interception rate to 100 per cent in return for the UK’S £54 million funding for counter-measures.

Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover, said it was baffling that the French were not flooding the beaches with police when they knew the weather was good enough for a surge in migrants: “The French have lost control of the sea border. They need to get a grip,” she said.

A source at the French interior ministry rejected the British claims as “unacceptable, when our forces are mobilised every day to save lives”. It said this year it had a 60 per cent interception rate, up from 56 per cent last year.

Three people were said by French authorities to be missing, presumed dead, on Thursday after attempting to cross the Channel in kayaks. It follows at least five other reported deaths of migrants in the past month as the surge of crossings continued despite tougher winter conditions.

Border Force officials warned of a “humanitarian crisis” at Tug Haven, the processing centre in Dover, amid fears of unrest among migrants who outnumber staff and officers by 40 to one.

Migrants are having to sleep or sit on concrete floors, often in freezing temperatures with just two heaters and have only two toilets. They then spend up to eight hours stuck on buses, waiting to be moved to immigration centres, according to the Border Force union.

“They have been told it’s a land of milk and honey but they turn up, have to sit on a concrete floor, have to ask permission to go out for a cigarette, and don’t get any hot food,” said Lucy Moreton, a professional officer of the Immigration Services Union (ISU). “It’s very tense. Unrest is an ever-present risk.”

Tony Smith, the former director-general of Border Force, urged the Government to bring in the military who had the logistical capability to “build a reception centre in a day”.