Flotilla of 40 boats lands 1,100 in calm conditions
‘This is a complicated issue requiring changes to our laws. The New Plan for Immigration provides a long-term solution’
MORE than 1,100 migrants crossed the Channel on Friday and Saturday as the good weather encouraged the return of small boats.
After 10 days without crossings due to bad weather, at least 40 boats reached Britain. Since the start of the year, more than 18,000 people have arrived on small boats.
On Friday 624 people reached the UK – the fourth highest daily tally during the current crisis. On Saturday, at least 491, including children, arrived in Britain after making the perilous journey.
The figures were confirmed by the Home Office yesterday morning, as Border Force was once again active in the Channel.
More people were seen arriving in Dover yesterday as crossings continued for a third day in a row.
A young girl wearing a pink jacket was seen being helped to put on a woolly hat by a border official in the port, one of a number of children who have made the dangerous crossing in the past few days.
Thousands of people have continued to cross from France in 2021 despite the UK pledging to send millions of pounds to the French authorities to tackle the crisis.
Nick Thomas-symonds, the shadow home secretary, said Priti Patel, the Home Secretary “needs to come clean” over her strategy to tackle small boat crossings. He told Sky News the fact that more than 1,100 people crossed to the UK in just two days across Friday and Saturday shows withholding money from France “clearly isn’t working”.
Dan O’mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander for the Home Office, said: “The Government is determined to tackle the unacceptable rise in dangerous Channel crossings using every tool at our disposal, at every stage in the journey.
“Working with police and international partners, there have been nearly 300 arrests, 65 convictions related to small boat criminality, and our targeted efforts have prevented more than 13,500 migrant attempts so far this year.
“But this is a complicated issue requiring changes to our laws. The Government’s New Plan for Immigration provides a long-term solution to fix the broken system and deliver the change required to tackle criminal gangs and prevent further loss of life.”