Channel migrants make 5am New Year's Eve dash to reach UK before Brexit deadline

Migrant being taken into care by Border Force - Steve Finn
Migrant being taken into care by Border Force – Steve Finn

Thirty-three migrants on four boats crossed the Channel under the cover of darkness in freezing temperatures on Thursday morning, in a desperate attempt to reach the UK before Brexit.

In 2020, some 8,400 people arrived on British shores having left northern France – four times as many as in 2019.

On New Year’s Eve, men were photographed in shorts and flip flops staggering around on the dockside in Dover, having been taken ashore by Border Force officials after crossing at 5am.

As Britain leaves the EU, Home Secretary Priti Patel has vowed to fix the “fundamentally broken” asylum system in the UK to make it “firm and fair”, promising to introduce new legislation in 2021 for the “biggest overhaul” of the system in “decades”.

This week the Telegraph revealed that people smugglers bringing migrants to the UK in small boats are forcing women and children to steer the vessels in a bid to avoid arrest.

Migrants in Dover - STEVE FINN 
Migrants in Dover – STEVE FINN

The callous tactic has been employed on a number of occasions in the last three months after trafficking gangs in Europe saw a spike in the number of their members being taken into custody in the UK.

Addressing the House of Commons in September, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I have a great deal of sympathy with those who are so desperate as to put their children in dinghies or even children’s paddling pools and try to cross the Channel.

“But I have to say what they’re doing is falling prey to criminal gangs and they are breaking the law. They’re also undermining the legitimate claims of others who would seek asylum in this country.

“That is why we will take advantage of leaving the EU by changing the Dublin regulations on returns and we will address the rigidities in our laws that makes this country, I’m afraid, a target and a magnet for those who would exploit vulnerable people in this way.”

As it stands, the Dublin Regulations mean that claims for asylum must be processed in the first EU country where someone claiming to be a refugee sets foot.

But as Brexit comes into force unless another transfer arrangement is agreed with the EU, the UK will no longer be able to forcibly deport asylum seekers who have passed through other EU countries.

A recent agreement struck with France, funded by £28 million of British taxpayer money, saw French police patrols double, and more technology used to combat the issue.

But boats have still got through, with four reaching the UK on New Year’s Eve and two more on the 30th.

Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts Chris Philp said:

“France is a safe country with a well-functioning asylum system. People should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and not risk their lives making a dangerous and illegally-facilitated crossing.

“We continue to work closely with the French following our agreement to take further action to tackle illegal migration, through increasing police patrols and surveillance.”

source: yahoo.com