Now 23,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year, as young asylum-seekers are seen queuing to go into hotel
- It come as 1,034 people were rescued in 18 dinghies from Friday to Sunday
More than 23,000 migrants have now crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year, according to official figures.
It comes after 1,034 people were rescued in 18 dinghies in just three days from Friday to Sunday during the September heatwave before being brought ashore at the Port of Dover in Kent, sending the total for this year to 23,103.
Images show young male asylum seekers queuing today to go into the Atrium Hotel in Feltham next to London Heathrow. Numerous former hotels have been taken over by the Home Office to house asylum seekers.
On Saturday, 425 people crossed in seven boats, suggesting an average of around 61 people per vessel.
On Sunday, six inflatables carrying 389 passengers arrived in temperatures of above 30C, with an even higher average of around 65 people in each dinghy.
Young male asylum seekers queuing at the Atrium Hotel in Feltham next to London Heathrow
A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat traveling from the coast of France and heading in the direction of Dover, Kent, on August 29, 2023
Crossings continued today, marking the 10th consecutive day of arrivals amid a spell of warm weather.
In total, 3,002 people have arrived in the first 10 days of September alone, with the hot weather making for ideal crossing conditions.
Also on Sunday, 153 migrants had to be rescued by French authorities off the coast of Calais.
The French coastguard rescued two dinghies with broken engines and returned them to the port.
The first boat was crammed with 81 people, including eight women and 10 children who were returned to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer in the early hours of the morning.
One person was reported to have fallen into the water from the dinghy but was picked up by rescuers.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard the Dover Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel, on September 4, 2023
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel, on August 23, 2023
Later, a second dinghy carrying 72 people was also rescued, with all of the passengers, including 17 children and 14 women, carried back to Calais.
One of the women who was rescued by the French was pregnant and received medical attention from a doctor when she was brought aboard the safe vessel.
People smugglers continued to take advantage of the good weather today, although the weather is expected to deteriorate as the week continues.
A Home Office spokesperson has said: ‘The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.
‘Our priority is to stop the boats, and our Small Boats Operational Command is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.
‘The government is going even further through our Illegal Migration Act which will mean that people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.’
A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat traveling from the coast of France and heading in the direction of Dover, Kent, on August 29, 2023
The new figures come after an MP called on the Prime Minister to insist the EU does more to stop the importation of inflatable boats from places such as Turkey.
Craig Mackinlay MP for South Thanet in Kent made the request to Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday.
In the past, the migrants’ dinghies were purchased in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, but that has decreased since the police exposed this operation.
Many boats are now purchased from Turkey where they can be bought in bulk and more cheaply.
Mr Mackinlay informed the PM that a UK dinghy manufacturer wishing to sell in the EU market would need to apply the Conformité Européene (CE) marking, make custom declarations and have the possibility of being stopped and checked.
However, none of this seems to be as rigorously enforced, if at all, when supersized, dangerous dinghies are bought from Turkey and taken across the EU border into Bulgaria and Greece for onward use in the English Channel, crossing countless EU countries on the way.
Mr Mackinlay accused the EU of double standards on the matter, especially in light of their overzealous approach to goods passing from the GB mainland to Northern Ireland.
A group of people thought to be migrants are rescued by Border Force vessel Defender as they cross the Channel in a small boat traveling from the coast of France and heading in the direction of Dover, Kent. Picture date: Tuesday August 29, 2023
He said: ‘Entry of GB products into Northern Ireland to comply with EU Single Market rules has taken us down various cul-de-sacs in recent years.
‘Yet the super-sized, unsafe dinghies, produced predominantly in Turkey cross many EU borders before their use in the Channel.
‘That’s why I have asked Rishi Sunak to insist that the EU, which professes to be so enthralled with its own regulations, rigorously enforces CE standards and safety, and actively stop the importation of these dinghies into the EU.’
Mr Mackinlay is also calling for the immediate return of Channel migrants to France by Chinook helicopter, calling it Plan ‘C’.
More than 2,000 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel last week, figures show.
Some 2,017 people were recorded making the journey between Monday September 4 and Sunday September 10, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office data.
A boat carrying around 50 migrants drifts into English waters after being escorted by a French Warship from the French coastline on August 24, 2023
More than 3,000 have crossed since the start of September, compared to around 2,600 for the first 10 days of the same month in 2022.
Around 30,700 crossings have been recorded since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister on October 25 last year, official Government figures for the period and provisional data suggests.
They indicate about 40,700 crossings have been recorded during Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s time in office, taking into account the period including her brief first tenure between September 6 and October 19, 2022 and since she was re-appointed on October 25.
Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘Less than two weeks ago, Rishi Sunak told the media that his plan to stop the small boats was working, and that the British people should have confidence in him to deliver.’
She also accused Ms Braverman of making ‘countless claims and promises’, adding: ‘The Prime Minister and Home Secretary should spare us the empty slogans and start working on solutions.’
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