Patel
Home Secretary
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
www.gov.uk/home-office
Adam Holloway
MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
CTS Ref:
M10246/00
Your ref:
AH42962
30
July
2020
Dear
Mr
Holloway,
RE:
SMALL BOATS
Thank you for your correspondence
of
29 June 2020
on behalf of your constituents
regarding small boats attempting to cross the Channel carrying migrants to the
UK.
I am
sorry for the delay in responding.
I fully understand your
constituents’
anger and horror at the sheer numbers of
people
illegally entering the UK through the Channel.
It is a thoroughly unacceptable situation
and I am equally frustrated by the problems we are encountering to stop these
crossing.
These crossings are illegal; and no one should either facilitate them or be
attempting them
in the first place. France, from where these crossings originate, is a
manifestly safe
country with a fully functioning asylum system, with over 100,000
asylum claims lodged in
2019. Genuine refugees who are in France can and should claim asylum there; and
have
no excuse to refuse the chance to do so and travel illegally and dangerously to
the UK
instead.
It is an offence to assist unlawful immigration
to the UK and to profit from helping an
individual arrive in the UK in order to claim asylum. Additionally, those who
successfully
enter the UK are not only breaking the UK’s Immigration Rules by coming to the
UK
without permission, they are also providing
cash and support to criminal people-
traffickers.
As Home Secretary, I want to end this utter farce of small boats coming to the
UK; and
I am working to make this an unviable route for irregular migration; however,
there are
substantial barriers to
overcome in doing this.
Migrants are embarking on small boats from a coastline over 100kilometres in
length at
night, making it very hard for French law enforcement to patrol and prevent. The
migrants
are not committing an offence in French law by staying
in northern France or by attempting
the crossing.
Our Government has invested money with the French authorities’ measures to
intercept
migrants on the beaches, through police patrols and the use of surveillance
equipment.
This has had some impact;
however, once on the water, there are safety issues which
prevent us from taking direct action to stop them from coming into UK
territorial waters.
If the migrants arrive in the UK, then the UK’s asylum system and the European
Union’s
Dublin Regulation,
as they stand, make returning the migrants a completely arduous and
lengthy legal process. On this latter issue, we are working to bring in new
legislative
measures that will tackle the legal obstacles to removal, that cost UK taxpayers
millions of
pounds,
on an annual basis.
Despite the difficulties described above, we are taking the following actions
daily. The
National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement, Border Force and the UK Police,
are
working closely with French authorities to crack down on the
criminals who facilitate the
crossings. The UK-France
Co-ordination
and Information Centre daily co-ordinates:
1.
Preventing attempts to cross and prosecuting criminals who facilitate it;
2.
Exchanging real-time
intelligence between UK and French agencies;
3.
Preventing
threats to public order and cross-border
infrastructure; and
4.
Providing joint analysis of cross-Channel
traffic flows.
This law enforcement response has prevented over 1000 people from crossing by
small
boats in April and May 2020.
As Home Secretary,
I can report that we have made
requests to return 700 illegal migrants who have entered the UK via small boats
in the last
few months.
So far in 2020, 21 people smugglers have been convicted and put behind
bars, as a result of Immigration Enforcement
investigations, with more investigations
underway.
The UK is funding patrols on the beaches, by 45 Gendarme Reservists. French
officers
from the Police Aux Frontières, BMR and OCRIEST also patrol. This is supported
by
surveillance assets such as drones,
which seek to identify migrants preparing a crossing,
so that they can be intercepted. This work has resulted in approximately 50% of
crossing
attempts so far in 2020, being stopped by the French authorities on the beaches
of
northern France or close to
them.
Despite all this action, too many migrants are still attempting to circumvent
the UK’s
immigration system by making the crossings.
The numbers getting across, remain
unacceptable.
We are working on developing tactics at sea, to prevent crossings
at sea,
and on ways to rapidly return those who do get across.
This will require primary legislation
and new agreements with the French Government.
I am also returning these illegal migrants to the safe countries they have
transited from.
There are currently
275 arrivals ready to be returned to Italy, Germany and France, and
we are in the process of returning a further 426 people who have come into the
country in
2020, so far.
Finally, there is considerable policy work underway to address where the
UK’s immigration
and asylum system is being exploited and abused; and we are developing
legislation to
address the legal loopholes that are generating unmeritorious immigration and
asylum
claims; and to rapidly remove those who come here illegally and who
do not merit genuine
protection.
3
I can assure you that I am working at every level to end what is a complex
situation on
illegal migration and abuses of the wider immigration system.
Thank you, once again, for your correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon Priti Patel
MP
Home Secretary