New measures in place to curb small boat asylum arrivals

THE government on Wednesday (21) announced new measures to crack down on high numbers of asylum seekers arriving illegally on small boats from France.

It said 100 "new specialist intelligence and investigation officers" would be recruited to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to help dismantle smuggling gangs that run the dangerous crossings.

The Home Office added that the government aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers for five years.

Polls show that controlling immigration is now the most important issue for British voters for the first time in eight years, following far-right riots targeting Muslims and migrants that began after the murder of three girls in the town of Southport in northwest England.

During the riots people tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

The Labour government, which won an election last month, intends to increase detention capacity at removal centres and sanction employers who hire people with no right to work in the the country, the Home Office said.

"We are taking strong and clear steps to boost our border security and ensure the rules are respected and enforced," home secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement.

Within days of taking power, prime minister Keir Starmer scrapped a controversial scheme to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda, which had been a flagship policy of the last Tory government.

Starmer has instead pledged to dismantle the people-smuggling gangs who organise the crossings and are paid thousands of euros by each migrant.

The Home Office is recruiting a so-called Border Security Commander who will work with European countries against the people-smuggling gangs.

Starmer has also pledged with French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen "cooperation" in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.

More than 200 people crossed the Channel in three boats on Monday (19), taking the provisional total for the year so far to 19,294, according to Home Office figures.

This is a 10 per cent increase on the number recorded last year, which was 17,620, but down on the 21,344 crossings recorded in the same period of 2022.

Since the new Labour government was appointed on July 5, more than 5,700 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain in boats crossing the Channel from France, underlining the challenge facing ministers who have promised to smash the people-smuggling gangs.

The Home Office said the NCA is pursuing about 70 investigations against criminal networks involved in people trafficking.

It said the government would issue financial penalty notices, business closure orders and bring possible prosecutions against anyone employing illegal workers.

The department also said it was adding 290 beds to two removal centres and redeploying staff to try to remove failed asylum seekers at the highest rate since 2018. The ministry did not give figures on the numbers involved.

(Agencies)