Over 17,000 illegal migrants, mostly comprised of young military-age males from the Middle East and Africa, have arrived on British shores so far this year in boats launched from the beaches of France.
Eight months after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to the country that his government would “stop the boats” the crisis seems to have no end in sight, with even leaked government documents now predicting that it could last upwards of another five years.
According to a review of government statistics made by the PA news agency, over 17,000 illegal migrants have crossed the English Channel since the start of the year. The news agency went on to report that it understands the Border Force is making preparations for what it dubbs “red days” in which warm weather and calm sea conditions make it easier for the people smuggling networks to launch waves of migrants towards Dover.
While the number of crossings is slightly lower than last year, with around 20,000 illegals crossing at this point in 2022, reports have indicated that people smuggling networks are once again turning to sneak migrants into the country on the backs of lorries in order to evade detection.
Since the crisis began in 2018, over 100,000 illegals have crossed the English Channel, with the vast majority of them being men between the ages of 18 and 39.
“I just feel we’re being mocked,” Brexit leader Nigel Farage said of the crisis. “But please don’t call it an invasion oh no, you use that word everybody goes potty and says you’re extremist and a racist because these are all poor suffering people.”
Reform UK party leader Richard Tice added: “The invasion continues 100,000, rising by many hundreds every week. By the end of 2023, possibly 120,000 will have invaded [the] UK across the Channel. They take our money, take our hotels and work illegally, so take our jobs.”
The continued flood of boat migrants washing up on British beaches comes despite the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak agreeing to give the French a staggering half a billion pounds sterling in order to step up enforcement against the human traffickers operating on their coastline.
It appears that the French continue to be overwhelmed by the gangs, however, with growing reports of violent turf wars breaking out between the Iraqi Kurds who have long controlled the trade and the new waves of Afghani smugglers arriving in the wake of their country falling to the Taliban.
Indeed, there have been reports that on the morning that saw six migrants drown to death in the Channel, gunshots had rung out in a camp near Calais in Northern France. An Iraqi witness relayed that turf wars in the camps “happen all the time,” adding: “I think they just fire their guns in the air mainly to frighten each other. This place is full of bad people.”
Yet, it also appears that Paris is unwilling to enact policies that would break the backs of the smuggling networks, most crucially coming to an agreement with London on the return of illegals, which would essentially destroy the business model of the traffickers given the migrants would not be willing to fork over thousands to reach England if they were guaranteed to be returned to France.
According to a report this week, the EU, on the urging of France, has once again rebuffed calls from Britain to agree on the return of migrants, with senior Conservative politicians suggesting that the bloc is attempting to use the crisis to punish the UK for leaving the bloc.
