Conservative MPs have called on France to accept back migrants who have come across the English Channel in small boats illegal, once they have been intercepted by British officials.
The number of migrants crossing the Channel has more than doubled year on year – despite Home Secretary Priti Patel’s vow to make the route “unviable”.
Tory MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke demanded “urgent action” to stop dangerous Channel crossings from taking place.
She said: “That means tackling the criminal gangs at source, doing more to stop the small boats leaving France in the first place, turning them round in the Channel, and swiftly returning people who have entered the country through an illegal route of entry.”
Well over 4,000 people have crossed the Channel so far this year – more than double the total at the same point last year of around 1,700 people.
Tory MP Damian Collins, who represents Folkestone and Hythe, has previously shared his own frustration with the “shamefully high” number of crossings.
He has called for an agreement with the French government so that UK officials “either intercept vessels making illegal crossings earlier in their journeys and take them back to France, or we return them to that country once they have been detained in England”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “More than 3,500 people have been prevented from making the dangerous crossing so far this year and we are cracking down on the despicable criminal gangs behind people smuggling. Inaction is not an option whilst people are dying.”
The spokesman added: “The government is bringing legislation forward through our new plan for immigration which will break the business model of these heinous people smuggling networks and save lives.”
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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