Patel’s plan to slap tough prison sentences on Channel crossers
MIGRANTS who illegally cross the Channel could face stiff jail terms under proposals being considered by the Home Office.
Tough penalties for breaking existing immigration law are being devised by ministers, it is understood.
It comes as Home Secretary Priti Patel considers a wide range of measures to tackle the Channel crisis, including controversial plans to house asylum seekers on disused ferries.
Using retired passenger ships moored off the British coast was described by a Government source as the ‘front runner’ of a range of options.
Laws that make it a crime to ‘enter the UK without leave’ have been in place since 1971 – but are rarely used against Channel migrants. Sources said Miss Patel, pictured, wants to see wider use of criminal charges. It is understood a forthcoming asylum and immigration Bill is likely to increase the punishments.
It could place the Government on a collision course with international bodies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as with human rights lawyers.
The plan to toughen penalties was welcomed by Conservative MP Tom Hunt, secretary of the ‘Common Sense Group’.
‘I think it would certainly act as a deterrent and should be on the table for serious consideration by the Home Secretary,’ he said. Currently, Section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971 makes it a crime to ‘knowingly enter the United Kingdom in breach of a deportation order or without leave’. It is a summary offence carrying a penalty of a fine or up to six months in jail. Reforms could see the offence dealt with by crown courts, meaning judges could impose much longer sentences. More than 7,000 migrants have now arrived in Britain aboard small boats this year. Miss Patel has hired a specialist firm to devise techniques to safely remove migrants from dinghies in the Channel. MPs were yesterday told that civil servants had ‘left no stone unturned’ in providing advice to ministers on how to tackle illegal migration. But Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft repeatedly refused to say whether officials had seriously considered plans to open asylum centres on islands in the South Atlantic. He told the public accounts committee: ‘No decisions have been taken. No final proposals have been put to ministers or to anyone else.’
Meanwhile, a war of words broke out over the overseas asylum centre plans and other recent proposals.
Cabinet Office officials yesterday instigated a leak inquiry as opposition parties and charities poured criticism on the ideas. One Government official blamed the proposals on ‘brain-dead morons in the Home Office’.
Allies of Miss Patel sought to deflect blame on to a Cabinet Office task force.