Migrants exploit lax ports
ILLEGAL migrants attempting to slip into Britain undetected are exploiting under-staffed border checkpoints, a report suggests.
Officials discovered that people attempting to enter the country unlawfully had adapted their tactics to take advantage of Border Force’s “limited resources”.
It also emerged that French officials do not allow British counterparts to use X-ray scanners to search for stowaways because the machines breach local laws.
Shockingly, no fines were issued to people found with suspected illegal immigrants inside their vehicles at south coast ports last year.
The warnings were outlined in an assessment of the efficiency of immigration and customs operations at Dover, Newhaven, Portsmouth, Southampton, Poole and Plymouth.
Publishing the report, chief inspector of borders and immigration, David Bolt, said: “I recognise that Border Force is dealing with many challenges.
“However, it is difficult to escape the impression that Border Force believes it knows best.”
Some managers were concerned that Border Force was “resourced to fail”, the report said.
It added: “Meanwhile, officers told inspectors that there were not enough of them to meet increasing operational pressures.”
Officers at Portsmouth told inspectors that migrants hide in different trailers in the belief that if one was detected the agency would not have the capacity to search the other trailers thoroughly.
Clandestine detections at South Coast ports fell from 1,119 in 2016-17 to 882 in 2017-18. But there were rises at Portsmouth and Poole.