Migrants try to sail to Britain from Belgium
People-traffickers alter course of smuggling route in an attempt to thwart French border police
MIGRANTS are attempting to sail to Britain from Belgian beaches for the first time, in an attempt to avoid French police patrols.
The move indicates a change in tactics from the smuggling gangs, who have historically operated in northern France. One local official described the development as “shocking”.
Last night, the Home Office confirmed that it was sending a Border Force officer to Zeebrugge to “support information-sharing with Belgian lawenforcement”.
On Tuesday, Belgian police were called after a boat carrying 14 people capsized in poor weather. The group of Afghan and Iraqi migrants, including two children, had to swim back to the beach at De Panne, a town on the border with France. Eight of them ran away and have not been found. Bram Degrieck, the mayor of De Panne, told The Daily Telegraph that they were lucky to be alive.
“This is the first time we have been confronted with this problem, where people have tried to go on their own little boat from a beach here to the UK. It is a sign of absolute desperation,” he said.
The UK and France set up a £6million joint programme to combat peoplesmuggling and small-boat crossings last year, which was boosted by the Home Secretary Priti Patel in October. Assets on the ground were doubled to provide cover of beaches in northern France, so that boats are stopped before they can leave the shore.
Despite this, some 229 people reached the UK in December alone, bringing the total for the year to more than 1,850. Only 125 people were sent back to France.
Yesterday, 21 migrants were intercepted by Border Force after crossing the world’s busiest shipping lane in two small boats. They were the first group to reach the UK this year. Six more were rescued at sea by a French patrol boat.
But it is the new Belgian frontier that is worrying officials on both sides of the Channel.
Natalie Elphicke, MP for Dover and Deal, said: “The news today of the near tragedy where 14 people could have drowned off the coast of Belgium is a wake-up call that it is time to bring this migrant crisis to an end for good.
“Returning people back to safety across the Channel is the most sensible and compassionate thing to do. The Belgian authorities must be vigilant that their country does not now become the new organised crime base for people-smuggling.”
Mr Degrieck said that his community needed support from the Belgian government. “Our beaches do not have structural controls. There is no surveillance. We have to be staffed, we have to be equipped to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are working closely with the French and Belgian authorities to stop small boats leaving European shores and arriving in the UK illegally. A Border Force officer will soon be based in Zeebrugge to support informationsharing with Belgian law enforcement.”