Record number of Channel migrants
BABIES and young children were among a group of migrants rescued at sea yesterday as the numbers making the perilous Channel crossing show no sign of letting up.
The group – mainly men – were brought ashore by rescuers from Dungeness in Kent.
Pictures show the crew lifting at least two babies from the beached lifeboat as at least 18 migrants disembarked. One injured migrant was carried away on a stretcher.
The latest arrivals come after Home Secretary Priti Patel had threatened to withdraw £54million in funding to France over its perceived failure to stop dinghies setting off.
Following Ms Patel’s warning, French authorities have managed to stop half of all crossings – up from the 30 per cent recorded between July 20, when the deal was struck, and September 7.
The numbers who landed yesterday have not been released, but the Home Office said 174 migrants in six boats arrived on Friday, taking the total so far this year to 15,116, compared with last year’s record of 8,420. Figures also showed 100 migrants who were removed from the UK have made it back for a second time – and been granted asylum status.
The tally of “boomerang refugees” over the past two years shows one person a week is granted asylum after having originally been returned home.
The Home Office figures show in the past two years 89 managed to make their way back into the country to lodge a second successful claim.
A rapid increase in second-time-lucky refugees began in the second half of 2019 as smugglers started using small boats more frequently to get people across the Channel.
In the 18 months to the end of 2020 there were 77 such applicants, compared with 31 in the previous period.
They have come from Libya, Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Iraq, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan.
In one case, a refugee described as “stateless” arrived in 2013, but their application was rejected.
They were returned to Italy, where they entered the EU, in May 2017, but incredibly they were back in the UK the next day and lodged a second application which was then granted.