UK and France agree to ‘ramp up’ action on English Channel migrant crossings

The UK and France have agreed to step up action to deal with migrants making the perilous attempt to cross the English Channel in small boats.

An “enhanced action plan” to be launched in the coming week will include increased joint patrols and surveillance, disruption of organized trafficking gangs and efforts to raise awareness among migrants of the dangers of a Channel crossing.

The plan was agreed in a phone call between Sajid Javid and his French counterpart Christophe Castaner after the UK’s Home Secretary cut short a family Christmas break to return to the UK and deal with the problem.

Mr Javid has come under growing pressure to act, with Labour accusing him of being “slow to respond” and one Conservative MP telling him to “get a grip”.

And Dover MP Charlie Elphicke repeated calls for Border Force cutters to be called back from search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean to patrol the Channel.

In the latest in a sequence of Channel crossings, six Iranian men were found on a Kent beach early on Sunday having arrived from France in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat.

The group were handed over to immigration authorities after being spotted in Kingsdown, near Deal.

In his call, Mr Javid assured the French Interior Minister of the UK’s commitment to supporting his country’s efforts to tackle the problem, including by supplying personnel and equipment.

The two men agreed on the need to “ramp up” co-operation and will meet face-to-face in January to assess whether further action is required, the Home Office said.

Mr Javid will chair a meeting on Monday to discuss further action with senior officials from British Government departments and agencies, including Border Force and the National Crime Agency.

Mr Castaner offered reassurances over France’s efforts to break up people-smuggling gangs, pointing to the dismantling on December 19 of an entire organized crime group that had been trafficking migrants through the country.

Thanking the French minister for his “partnership”, Mr Javid said: “The UK and France will build on our joint efforts to deter illegal migration – protecting our borders and human life.”

Thank you @CCastaner for your partnership. UK & France will build on our joint efforts to deter illegal migration – protecting our borders and human life https://t.co/7vUc0BvHMr

— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) December 30, 2018

The Home Office said increased activity would be led from the UK-France Co-ordination Centre at Coquelles, near Calais.

Mr Elphicke said: “I welcome the Home Secretary taking personal responsibility for the situation. Illegal crossings have now been on the increase for more than two months and more needs to be done as a matter of urgency.

“This is a good start. It is right that our Government has been demanding more of the French authorities to prevent further crossings, which put the lives of innocent and desperate people at risk and fuel criminal gangs.”

But he added: “It falls short of the kind of joint action and operations needed on the English Channel – specifically for the immediate return to France of people found making illegal crossings.

“Moreover, we cannot simply leave it to the French. I am calling for our Border Force cutters currently cruising the Mediterranean to return to UK waters and form a new Dover Patrol to take back control of our borders immediately.”

Mr Javid declared a “major incident” on Friday after dozens of migrants in small boats arrived on the Kent coast over the Christmas period.

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Sajid Javid cuts Christmas holiday short to deal with migrant issue[/quote_box_left]

He promised to do more to tackle the issue, saying it is of “grave concern” that people are attempting the perilous crossing.

He resisted calls to deploy more cutters to the Channel, saying he was keeping the number of vessels available to the Border Force Vessels “under close review”, but stressing that there was “no one easy answer”.

Mr Javid said it was “vital” to strike a balance between protecting migrants and protecting Britain’s borders and to avoid encouraging more people to put to sea.

Rejecting Mr Javid’s suggestion that increasing patrols would encourage more people to attempt the crossing, Mr Elphicke said: “You don’t deter burglars by leaving your front door open.”

Britain’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott branded Mr Javid’s strategy “flawed”.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Ms Abbott said: “While the Tories wax lyrical about control of our borders and being tough on security, they cannot seem to get a grip on criminal smugglers operating on a few hundred miles of coastline in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.”

Mr Javid also came under fire from Rehman Chishti, the Tory MP for the Kent seat of Gillingham & Rainham, who sits on the Home Affairs Select Committee.

He told the Sunday Telegraph there has been “a lack of leadership to get a grip on this issue”.

Mr Chishti added: “They have not got a grip on it. What we have got is unsatisfactory and somebody has to do something. Ultimately the buck stops with the Home Secretary.”

British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said the armed forces were ready to offer help if needed but there had no requests from the Home Office.

Chris Hogben, the head of the National Crime Agency-led Project Invigor, warned more crossings were “likely” in the coming weeks.

Mr Hogben said “significant resources” were being devoted to helping French authorities disrupt trafficking activities and dozens of crossing have been prevented, while “three suspected facilitators” had been arrested and charged.

The charity Detention Action said the reason for the crisis was the Government’s failure to create safe and legal routes for people to claim asylum in Britain.

“Instead of laying the blame solely at the hands of criminal gangs, Sajid Javid must step up and provide safe passage for those in distress if he wants to avoid further human tragedy,” the charity said in a statement.