Starmer in call to tackle trafficking gangs
Numbers have trebled in the first quarter of this year
LABOUR LEADER Sir Keir Starmer said there needs to be “an international co-ordinated criminal response” to tackle the “criminal gangs” that he said are driving the migrant crisis.
Speaking on the campaign trail in Worthing, West Sussex, he said he would solve the migrant crisis by working closer with France.
“Nobody wants to see anybody making that perilous journey across the Channel and everybody wants to crack down on the criminal gangs that are driving this”, he said.
“The best way to do that is to have an international coordinated criminal response.
“I have worked on international criminal organisations before when I was Director of Public Prosecutions. I know what can be done if you’ve got teams working together across Europe, all the way along those routes, absolutely bearing down on these criminal gangs and working very closely with the French authorities as well.”
He also said the rising cost of living is keeping people up at night. Sir Keir walked along the beach with Worthing Council Labour group leader Beccy Cooper before stopping at Coast cafe.
He said: “Everybody is talking about the cost-of-living crisis.
“The thing that has been keeping people up at night is worrying about paying their bills and being whacked with tax by the Government. From the Labour Party point of view we think that there should be a windfall tax on oil and gas companies in the North Sea, they have made more profit than they are expecting.”
Elections will be held on Thursday in 140 of England’s councils.
MORE THAN 250 people who are thought to be migrants were detected crossing the Channel yesterday, bringing the total this year to nearly 7,000, as charities said Government plans to send them to Rwanda would “do little to deter desperate people”.
The first four months of 2022 have seen more than treble the numbers recorded by this time last year (2,004) and over six times the figure for the same period in 2020 (1,006).
Yesterday’s crossings by 254 people came after an 11-day lull in activity, seemingly as a result of strong winds and choppy seas, rather than the Government’s controversial plans to send some of those making the cross-Channel journey to Rwanda.
The Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill became law on Thursday. It was dubbed the anti-refugee Bill by campaigners as it makes it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and includes powers to process asylum seekers overseas.
Under the law, Rwanda will receive asylum seekers deemed by the UK to be inadmissible, having arrived “illegally” under new immigration rules.
However dozens of those making the perilous journey told the Care4Calais charity that they were still prepared to take their chances.
In a Twitter post, the organisation said: “They have no choice: they’ve fled danger made long, dangerous journeys, and France ‘does not give you security’, as one said.”
The charity branded the Rwanda deal – which Home Secretary Priti Patel has described as a “world-first” agreement – as “just another in a long line of deterrence policies announced by this Government over the last few years”.
It said: “When you’re risking your life, what else do you have to lose? When someone explains ‘even death wouldn’t stop me’ trying to get to the UK, it’s clear that even the threat of Rwanda won’t change anything.”
Such sentiments were echoed by Pierre-Henri Dumont, French National Assembly member for Calais. He told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme: “When you leave your country because of flood, because of starvation, because you are not afraid of being hauled and sent back to another country, at least if you have a chance you will try.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the resumption of crossings showed that “draconian policies enshrined in the Nationality and Borders Bill and their (the Government’s) Rwanda deal are doing little to deter desperate people jumping on boats because they do nothing to address the reasons people come”.
He called on the UK to have a “grown-up conversation with France and the EU about sharing responsibility”.
He said: “We need a fair and humane asylum system, with means well thought-out, long-term solutions that address why people are forced from their homes, and provides them with safe routes to the UK.”
Sunday’s figures mean at least 6,947 people have reached the UK since the start of the year after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats.
Typically there can be periods of several days or weeks without migrant crossings, often depending on weather conditions.
Two longer gaps of 16 and 13 days without crossings were recorded earlier this year, before the Rwanda deal was announced.
The longest period without any crossings so far in 2022 was 16 days, between January 27 and February 11, analysis of Government figures shows.
Care4Calais said there is no longer a build-up of Ukrainians in Calais “because they can apply for visas from anywhere”.
Renewing their call for the option of visa applications for all refugees, the charity added: “The answer to many problems in Calais is to let refugees apply for visas to cross the Channel safely, because now – unless you’re Ukrainian – there’s no safe way for a refugee to get to the UK and claim asylum. That would put people smugglers out of business and save lives.”
It’s clear that even the threat of Rwanda won’t change anything. A statement by the Care4Calais charity.