Almost 150 small boat migrants crossed the English Channel today, as people smuggling gangs took advantage of several days of good weather.
The improvement in conditions has seen more than 400 foreigners cross illegally from France since yesterday morning.
Just after 5pm, the Border Force vessel Ranger arrived into Dover harbour with 145 migrants taken from two small boats that made it to British waters.
One of the migrant dinghies spent more than eight hours at sea, as it struggled and made slow progress while being escorted throughout by the French patrol vessel Ridens.
Today's arrivals take the number of migrants who have made the illegal journey so far this year to more than 3,850, according to provisional figures.
Although the winds have brought some choppy conditions, the weather is expected to improve again overnight and remain passable for small boats until Monday.
More than 260 small boat migrants entered Britain yesterday, with at least 56 migrants arriving in the Dover harbour on a Border Force vessel just after 10am.
Three other migrant boats made the illegal crossing in the hours that followed, where just after 3pm, the Border Force vessel Typhoon unloaded another 82 at the migrant processing centre in Dover, taking the total for the day to 261.
Several more days of good weather in the Channel this week are expected to see hundreds more small boat migrants attempt to reach Britain, after poor conditions saw numbers reduce earlier this year.
January went on record as the fewest small boat crossings in the month since 2021, attributed to volatile weather conditions from Storm Chandra as opposed to the success of anti-immigration policy.
The Border Force facility at Dover harbour has now reopened after being closed for upgrade work for the past two months.
All migrant arrivals, which were being diverted to Ramsgate harbour, are now being landed back at the main Dover processing centre.
Almost 200,000 small boat migrants have crossed the Channel since the start of the crisis in 2018.
Sir Keir Starmer has overseen more small boat arrivals than any other Prime Minister, with more than 66,000 crossing the Channel in his first 19 months in power.
Kent County Council is this week voting on declaring an "illegal migration" emergency.
The motion, which was tabled by councillors David Wimble and Jeremy Eustace, argues small boat arrivals will "likely contain a number of potential terrorist cells, supporting IS and al-Qaeda".
Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: "Illegal small boat crossings are not a distant problem for Kent. As Leader of Reform in KCC, I refuse to sit back and do nothing."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
- Viktor Orban shares 'secret' to net zero migration amid Britain's skyrocketing small boat crossings
- 'A saga 25 years in the making!' Human rights lawyer in disbelief as infamous 'chicken nugget migrant' wins case
- 'Won't make a difference!' Shabana Mahmood handed bleak assessment one day after 250 migrants make perilous journey across Channel
As of December, the Home Office said there were 107,003 individuals in receipt of asylum support, with 30,657 in around 200 asylum hotels.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently set out her plan to dissuade migrants from making the perilous 21-mile journey to begin with.
Ms Mahmood is looking to alter asylum claims to ensure refugee status only becomes temporary, also offering failed asylum seekers families payments of up to £40,000 to leave the UK.
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
from GB News https://ift.tt/a4xP1p9
0 Comments