Record number of migrants cross Channel in first three months of year
Some 4,644 migrants have crossed the English Channel to the UK so far in 2024
Charles Hymas, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR27 March 2024 • 12:48pm
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, on Monday CREDIT: Gareth Fuller
A record 4,644 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats in the first three months of this year, Home Office figures showed on Wednesday.
Some 338 people were detected crossing the English Channel to the UK on Tuesday, bringing the cumulative number of arrivals so far in 2024 to the highest since the first small boats reached the UK in 2018.
The cumulative number of arrivals so far this year is 23 per cent higher than the total at this point last year, which was 3,770, and 12 per cent higher than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 4,162.
The figures have reversed the trend from last year, when the total 29,437 arrivals were down 36 per cent on the annual record of 45,774.
It comes after last week saw a record daily high for the year, when 504 migrants arrived on Wednesday in small boats.
It means more than 20,000 migrants have crossed the Channel since the Government introduced its stop the boats legislation in the form of the Illegal Migration Act, which received Royal Assent in July last year.
It gives ministers the powers to deem any migrant’s asylum claim inadmissible if they arrived in the UK illegally and deport them to a safe third country such as Rwanda.
The migrants are, however, in limbo because the Government has yet to implement the legislation but is not allowing them to claim asylum.
The surge comes despite a three-year £480 million Anglo-French deal agreed by Rishi Sunak last year to pay for a doubling in officers patrolling French beaches to 800, a joint command centre and a detention centre to prevent migrants from leaving France.
It emerged at the weekend that the French have been adopting tougher tactics including physically trying to force small boats to turn round for the first time, manoeuvres known as “pull backs” used in an attempt to stop small boats reaching British shores.
Tactics filmed by campaigners showed French Border Force vessels circling a migrant boat, causing waves to flood the dinghy; ramming into a small boat while threatening passengers with a large tank of pepper spray; and puncturing boats when they are already at sea, forcing migrants to swim back to shore.
French police face ‘increased violence on beaches’
The Government’s Rwanda Bill – a key plank of Mr Sunak’s pledge to stop the boats – has been delayed until after the Easter recess after a series of heavy defeats inflicted on the Government by the Lords.
It has raised fears that efforts to get the first deportation flights to Rwanda are likely to be delayed from May until June, when the people smugglers ramp up operations to take advantage of the calmer, better weather.
Responding to questions over the three-week delay, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The legislation is dealing with a migration emergency, and we are introducing that legislation as soon as we possibly can to reduce the number of people taking the perilous journey across the Channel.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible.
“We continue to work closely with French police who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.
“We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats.”
Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, said: “Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Rishi Sunak keeps on telling the British people that small boat arrivals are coming down and his promise to stop the boats remains on track.
“Can he not see what is happening from inside his No 10 bunker, or does he think we can’t see it for ourselves?
“Either way, it’s time to get a grip and restore order to the border. Labour will strengthen our border security, crush the smuggling gangs, clear the asylum backlog, end hotel use, and set up a new returns and enforcement unit so those with no right to be in the UK are swiftly returned. That is the plan we need.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/29/illegal-immigrants-still-come-in-their-thousands/ Sunak
Illegal immigrants still come in their thousands. This will be the end of Rishi Sunak
There have been no promised flights to Rwanda. The Government rattles its sabre at illegal migrants – and then puts them up in lovely hotels
ROSS CLARK29 March 2024 • 11:41am
Iknow it is up against some pretty strong competition from HS2 and the like, but has this or any government wasted so much money to so little effect as the millions Rishi Sunak has shelled out to the French supposedly to stop migrants crossing the Channel? The number of migrants arriving in Britain in small boats has hit a new record in the first three months of 2024. Over 4,600 have somehow managed to evade French patrols. When the weather warms up and calms down we can expect many thousands more.
Rishi Sunak’s government has achieved the very worst on illegal migration, by talking tough and then failing even slightly to deliver. If the Government had approached the issue of illegal migration by speaking like those mealy-mouthed charities who insist every single illegal migrant coming to Britain is “desperate”, and trying to claim that they would all prove a huge boon to the country, boosting the economy and enriching our culture, you might have disagreed with that very strongly but at least you could have had a certain respect for it – the outcome would be consistent with the ideology.
Instead, we have had one minister after another tub-thumping over illegal migration, telling us it would go to all lengths to stop the boats – but the end result is even more illegal migration than we started with.
There are two possibilities here. Either Rishi Sunak and his Home Office ministers are all secret agents working for the Refugee Council and are using tough talk as cover for what they are really trying to achieve. Or they are simply incompetent, lily-livered and too intellectually feeble to take on the human rights blob. I think I favour the latter explanation.
If we are going to pay the French a bean to try to stop the boats the deal should have one clear condition: that anyone landing on a British beach, or picked up in UK waters, should be automatically and instantly returned to France. There should be no legal aid, no bed and board, no nothing. The message would soon have got across that it is pointless trying to cross the Channel – you will be paying a trafficker and risking your life for no reason.
Many European leaders agree that asylum-seekers must claim asylum in the first country they reach, and so unless someone is on the run from Macron’s regime, they have no business crossing the Channel. All Britain and France would be doing would be to enforce that sentiment. If the European Court of Human Rights took a different view the government should tell it to stuff it, like other countries seem very happy to do on all manner of topics.
Instead, the Government has thrashed around and got absolutely nowhere. There have been no promised flights to Rwanda. The Government rattles its sabre at illegal migrants – and then puts them up in lovely hotels. We have a government which seems to be pleading to be put out of its misery at the earliest opportunity.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/27/record-number-channel-migrants-cross/
Record number of migrants cross Channel in first three months of year
Some 4,644 migrants have crossed Channel to the UK so far in 2024 – 23 per cent higher than total this time last year
Charles Hymas, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR27 March 2024 • 12:48pm
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought ashore at Dover, Kent, on Monday CREDIT: Gareth Fuller/PA
A record 4,644 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats in the first three months of this year, Home Office figures showed on Wednesday.
Some 338 people were detected crossing to the UK on Tuesday, bringing the cumulative number of arrivals so far this year to the highest since the first small boats reached the UK in 2018.
The cumulative number of arrivals is 23 per cent higher than the total at this point last year, which was 3,770, and 12 per cent higher than the total at this stage in 2022 – 4,162.
The figures have reversed the trend from last year, when the total of 29,437 arrivals was down 36 per cent on the annual record of 45,774.
It comes after last week saw a record daily high for the year, when 504 migrants arrived on Wednesday in small boats.
More than 20,000 migrants have crossed the Channel since the Government introduced its stop the boats legislation in the form of the Illegal Migration Act, which received Royal Assent in July last year.
It gives ministers the powers to deem any migrant’s asylum claim inadmissible if they arrived in the UK illegally and deport them to a safe third country such as Rwanda.The migrants are, however, in limbo because the Government has yet to implement the legislation but is not allowing them to claim asylum.
The surge comes despite a three-year, £480 million Anglo-French deal, agreed by Rishi Sunak last year, to pay for a doubling in officers patrolling French beaches to 800, a joint command centre and a detention centre to prevent migrants from leaving France.
It emerged earlier this month that France has been adopting tougher tactics, including physically trying to force small boats to turn round for the first time, manoeuvres known as “pull backs” used in an attempt to stop small boats reaching British shores.
Tactics filmed by campaigners showed French Border Force vessels circling a migrant boat, causing waves to flood the dinghy, ramming into a small boat while threatening passengers with a large tank of pepper spray, and puncturing boats when they are already at sea, forcing migrants to swim back to shore.
The Government’s Rwanda Bill – a key plank of Mr Sunak’s pledge to stop the boats – has been delayed until after the Easter recess after a series of heavy defeats inflicted on the Government by the Lords.
It has raised fears that efforts to get the first deportation flights to Rwanda are likely to be delayed from May until June, when people smugglers ramp up operations to take advantage of the calmer, better weather.
Responding to questions over the three-week delay, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The legislation is dealing with a migration emergency, and we are introducing that legislation as soon as we possibly can to reduce the number of people taking the perilous journey across the Channel.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible.
“We continue to work closely with French police, who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.
“We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats.”
Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, said: “Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Rishi Sunak keeps on telling the British people that small boat arrivals are coming down and his promise to stop the boats remains on track.
“Can he not see what is happening from inside his Number 10 bunker, or does he think we can’t see it for ourselves?
“Either way, it’s time to get a grip and restore order to the border. Labour will strengthen our border security, crush the smuggling gangs, clear the asylum backlog, end hotel use and set up a new returns and enforcement unit so those with no right to be in the UK are swiftly returned. That is the plan we need.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/03/27/rishi-sunak-latest-news-nhs-poll-mp-resignations-rees-mogg/ Sunak has failed on small boats pledge, says Reform leader Richard Tice
Updated 18 minutes ago
Richard Tice, the Reform UK leader CREDIT: Jamie Lorriman
Richard Tice claimed Rishi Sunak had “failed” on his pledge to stop the boats after Channel crossings for the first three months of 2024 hit a record high.
Official figures published by the Home Office today showed 338 people arrived in seven boats yesterday, taking the total for the year to date to 4,644.
That is a new high water mark for the first three months of a calendar year.
Mr Tice, the Reform UK leader, described the numbers as an “illegal migrant surge” as he took aim at Mr Sunak over the promise he made in January 2023 to stop the crossings.
The Home Office said the numbers showed why Rwanda migrant deportation flights needed to take off “as soon as possible”.
The Government’s Rwanda Bill is nearing the end of its journey through Parliament, with ministers still hoping the first flights will take off this spring.
Clapham chemical attacker given Muslim burial despite conversion to Christianity
Clapham chemical attacker given Muslim burial despite conversion to Christianity
Abdul Ezedi’s funeral conducted by mosque in west London amid claims he was not a worshipper there
Steve Bird27 March 2024 • 12:31pm
Abdul Ezedi’s body was found in the River Thames in
February CREDIT: Metropolitan Police Handout
The Clapham chemical attacker was given a Muslim funeral and burial despite converting to Christianity to claim UK asylum.
Abdul Ezedi, an Afghan national, had been at the centre of a manhunt after attacking a 31-year-old mother and her two daughters with a corrosive substance in south London in January.
Immigration files published on Tuesday showed the convicted sex offender had twice been refused asylum by the Home Office.
But, when he later insisted he had converted to Christianity and obtained the endorsement of a Baptist priest he was granted leave to remain.
The dossier showed he had repeatedly failed to answer basic questions about Christianity, lied about his past and was deemed such a sexual threat that a special worshipping agreement was put in place for him to attend a church in Jarrow, South Tyneside.
It is now understood that Ezedi’s family and friends requested that he should be given a Muslim funeral and burial after his body was found in the River Thames in February. It raises the prospect that those closest to him did not believe he had abandoned his Muslim faith.
The Telegraph revealed in February how he was known in Newcastle, where he lived, to be a devout Muslim who observed Ramadan and only ate Halal food.
His funeral was conducted by a mosque in west London, and he was given a Muslim burial at a cemetery in east London on March 11, the BBC has claimed. He is not thought to have been known to the mosque which buried him.
The Muslim funeral director, who did not want to be named, told the broadcaster: “As a funeral directors, we don’t look into people’s past, we look at how we can help in a situation.
“Our job was just to provide a dignified burial for the deceased.”
Ezedi was given a Muslim burial at a cemetery in east London CREDIT: UNPIXS
The BBC claimed some worshippers, many of whom had an Afghan background, said Ezedi had not been a worshipper there.
The mosque, which often conducts funerals for asylum seekers who die alone, asks for donations from regular worshippers to help with costs.
But when it asked for contributions in Ezedi’s case, some people were said to have been upset.
One worshipper, who did not want to be identified, said Ezedi, 35, had “attacked innocent people” and converted to Christianity, adding that it was “the responsibility of the church to bury him according to his new belief or religion, not the mosque”.
The newly released immigration papers show his conversion and his baptism at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow had been pivotal in persuading a tribunal judge to let him stay.
However, the Home Office opposed the decision pointing out Ezedi had been unable to explain the reasons for his conversion or demonstrate a clear understanding of Christian principles. Asked what the Old Testament was about, he replied: “Jesus Christ.” He also claimed Jacob was one of the Apostles.
Asked what God was believed to have created on the third day, he answered: “Good Friday and Easter Sunday and Resurrection Day.”
Home Office officials told the tribunal they believed Ezedi was prepared to “use religion for his own ends” in order to secure asylum.
However, Judge O’Hanlon, the immigration judge, said in 2020 that although Ezedi had lied in other aspects of his claim, that did not “automatically mean that his evidence in relation to his claimed conversion could not be believed”.
He wrote in his judgment that he found the “most compelling evidence” had come from Reverend Roy Merrin, the then ministry team leader at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow, who said he had known Ezedi for four years and that he attended church regularly.
The priest told the hearing he was “aware of people who fraudulently claimed conversion with ulterior motives in relation to asylum but did not consider the appellant (Ezedi) was such a person”.
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