The Home Office is seeking military help over the growing number of illegal migrants crossing the English Channel, the department has sent a formal request to defence chiefs asking for help.
The Home Office said it was possible the Royal Navy could be brought in to patrol the migrant traffic, The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Saturday it was “working hard” to identify how best to assist.
The directive comes after Home Secretary Priti Patel was reportedly looking at introducing Royal Navy patrols of the channel, which would have the power to send illegal boats back, a Home Office source told the Daily Mail.
The news follows after a total of 235 suspected illegal migrants were intercepted crossing the English Channel on Thursday, a new record for a single day.
Authorities had been warned another significant influx of small boat crossings are likely to occur as weather conditions between France and England improve over the next few days.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has described the situation as “complex”, saying in a tweet on Friday that the government faces “serious legislative, legal and operational barriers”.
Immigration Minister Chris Philp said migrants should be fingerprinted. However, it is unknown if this will go further than a proposal, asylum seekers fingerprints are stored under the European Union Eurodac system.
Mr Philp said migrants would know “they face real consequences if they try to cross again”, and added he would “negotiate hard” with French officials about how to deal with the crossings.
He added that he shared “the anger and frustration of the public at the appalling number of crossings” on Thursday.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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