Smugglers use good weather to ship in 227 asylum seekers

FIVE boats carrying 82 migrants were intercepted in the English Channel yesterday as people-smuggling gangs stepped up their operations during the good weather conditions.

It means a total of 227 people have been brought from Calais to the south coast of England in 13 small boats within just two days.

Chris Philp, the minister for immigration compliance and the courts, condemned the people-smuggling trade as “totally unacceptable and sickening” and promised to step up action to prevent the crossings.

A total of 145 people were smuggled to UK shores on Bank Holiday Friday, a record number for a single day. It means 1,332 migrants have been brought here so far this year, 943 of whom have arrived since the lockdown was imposed on March 23.

The boats were intercepted with the vast majority being brought to Dover. However, 12 men who claimed to be Iraqi or Indian nationals arrived at Dungeness.

The marked increase in the number arriving here by boat suggests people smugglers have been forced to rely on using dinghies to transport migrants to the UK after ferry routes were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Mobile video footage filmed at the port of Dover shows people wearing face masks being processed by Border Force officials.

The boats often arrive in UK waters from about 4am, suggesting they set off from France under cover of darkness sometime after midnight.

Mr Philp said: “We are all working night and day to dismantle and arrest the criminal gangs who trade in people smuggling.”