Day that saw 200 more risk lives to reach the UK
After almost two weeks with no crossings in wake of Rwanda deal, five boats plucked from British waters in...
MORE than 200 migrants are thought to have crossed the Channel yesterday despite Priti Patel’s asylum deal with Rwanda.
The arrivals, who were crammed into small rubber boats, were pictured smiling as they waved and signalled to rescuers off Dover.
French authorities said the first of the boats had 39 people and another 40. The dinghies were intercepted by Border Force officials who transferred those on board to HMC valiant for the journey into Dover. At least five boats carrying more than 200 migrants are believed to have arrived in the early hours.
No migrant crossings had been logged for 11 days, raising the prospect that the threat of being sent to Rwanda to claim asylum was working.
But calmer seas and favourable weather conditions appear to have been all the migrants were waiting for.
Patrick O’Flynn, a former Social Democratic Party MEP, said: ‘Those who pointed to the weather conditions re the lack of Channel migrant crossings recently looking vindicated today. Gentler sea conditions and a change to the wind direction has led to lots of boats setting out.
‘The number of migrants who have been sent to Rwanda remains zero.’
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: ‘The media speculation that Channel crossings have stopped due to the
‘We need to shift the dynamic’
Rwanda plan is nonsense. These are the first pictures in 12 days. Expect more.’
Home Office minister Tom Pursglove told GB News it was too early to judge the effect of the Rwanda policy.
But he added: ‘We need to shift the dynamic and shift the dial, because the status quo just couldn’t endure.’
The latest crossings mean well over 1,500 people have arrived in boats since Home Secretary Miss Patel signed the asylum deal with Rwanda on April 14.
Figures from the Ministry of Defence, which took over operations that day, show 1,422 had come across up to April 19 – the last day they were seen.
A source said prevailing north-easterly winds had ‘combined with very significant spring tides to make the Channel impossible for small boats to negotiate’.
They added: ‘you have the flood tide running fast in one direction and the north-easterly winds pushing in the other. That combines to whip up the waves, which become unmanageable.’
A total of 28,526 migrants crossed the Channel in 2021 – significantly more than the 8,410 who arrived in 2020. A Government spokesman said: ‘The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.
‘Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the Uk taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the Uk via safe and legal routes.
‘The Government is cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the Uk illegally.’
The latest arrivals could be sent to Rwanda after the strength of their claim is assessed by Home Office officials.
Any judged to be ‘inadmissible’ will have their application for asylum assessed in Rwanda by the authorities there.