Britain must change tactic to stop migrant boats

sir – As a former director of what was the UK Immigration Service (Ports), I am appalled by the record number (409) of illegal entrants arriving in 27 boats in one day (report, September 3).

The United Kingdom has given millions of pounds to the French to increase security and stop the boats from leaving their shores. It is simply not good enough for them to say that they have 300 miles of coast to patrol – all of these boats will have left from close to Calais, as this is the shortest route to Dover. How could the French possibly fail to see as many as 27 boats departing and not do anything?

The sooner Britain adopts the Australian tactic of “pushback” (the prevention of boats entering the country’s waters) the better. Currently, Border Force cutters are having the opposite effect to preventing this traffic. They are acting as lifeboats, and migrants are deliberately heading towards them.

UN human rights experts have said that pushback is probably illegal (although untested in the courts, so far as I am aware), but it had the desired effect and cut the number to virtually zero. In any case, under the terms of the Dublin Regulation, these migrants should have applied for asylum in the first safe country of arrival.

Finally, we should be told what the French are doing to establish where the traffickers are getting their boats, many of which are rigid inflatables with outboard motors. There cannot be many dealers in such vessels.

Peter Higgins

West Wickham, Kent

sir – We witness almost daily the immigrants crossing the Channel in a seemingly endless supply of inflatable boats. If the French authorities were serious about preventing these crossings, surely they could easily address the source of supply, which must be in a coastal location, conveniently and regularly used by illegal people traffickers.

Peter Stowe

Woodbridge, Suffolk