PREY ON DESPERATE MIGRANTS SICKENING »» »» »»
Adults charged £5,000 for danger Channel crossing Kids are offered half-price journey to tempt parents French officials say crossings up by 600% this year
detected illegal Channel crossings was 12 in 2017 but has soared 600 per cent this year. But in Calais those determined to reach the UK are undeterred.
While hundreds are putting their TRUCKERS using Britain’s busiest port yesterday blamed the surge in migrant landings at Dover on a pre-Brexit scramble.
The alert was sounded by drivers at the Truck Stop cafe, visited by thousands of crossChannel hauliers each year.
One who regularly travels between Dover and Calais said: “It has got worse and worse ever since we voted Leave.
“The nearer we’ve got to the March deadline the more have been coming over.
“I think they are worried it will get even tougher to get through when we leave. And the possibility of no deal may make things even more complex.
“Migrants definitely seem to be taking their chances now before the deadline in March. It is an absolute mess, the Government needs to get a grip of this.”
Local fishermen agreed – and said milder weather had encouraged more attempts.
Matt Coaker, 37 – who has witnessed a
lives at risk on boats, others are paying £10,000 to stow away on lorries.
In the latest sea incidents, an inflatable containing four migrants was rescued off the Kent coast at around against them are on the rise – killing and maiming, sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals. While children and their families remain trapped by brutal violence, ruthless
3am on Friday. Six hours later another small boat was intercepted with eight people on board. That came after nine people, including three children, were intercepted on a beach in Sandgate,
people smugglers will fill the void. The UK must do more to protect children in war zones and set up legal routes to safety when all else fails.
The Government must also support humanitarian visas. Without urgent action, it’s only a matter of time before the English Channel becomes an unmarked mass grave for children.
Kent, on Thursday. And more than 40 migrants were rescued from the Channel on Christmas Day.
Ingrid Parrot, of the French Maritime Police, said extra patrol vessels had been deployed to avert a tragedy.
She added: “The figures are unprecedented and very disturbing. The risk is great. There are 200 ships and 100 ferries crossing here every day. What’s more, the currents are strong and the winds almost permanent.”
A senior French police source added: “Iraqi Kurds play a major part in the people smuggling rackets. They
are putting lives at risk while profiting from human misery. It is only a matter of time until lives are lost.”
Two years ago, UK-based Iraqi Kurd gangster Twana Jamal, 40 – nicknamed The Godfather – was jailed for five years for a £4million-a-year crossChannel people smuggling racket.
And in September, two Albanians and five Brits from Kent were jailed for a total of 48 years after using small boats and a jet ski to smuggle people into the UK.