Sir Keir Starmer is under intense pressure over his pledge to “bust the gangs” after it emerged a man sacked under his flagship “one in, one out” deal with France has returned to the UK on a small boat.
In a double blow for the Prime Minister, the number of small boat migrants arriving in the UK so far this year has also surpassed the total for 2024.
Only 42 people have been returned to France under the deal, which the prime minister and French President Emmanuel Macron announced to much fanfare in July. Under its terms, one asylum seeker would be allowed to enter the UK from France via a legal route for every small boat migrant turned back through the English Channel.
At the time, Sir Keir described it as a “moment of progress” that could “turn the tables” on people smugglers – but a Downing Street spokesman said on Wednesday the policy was not a “silver bullet” to tackle the problem.
Conservative leader Kimmy Badnock also accused the government of being in “total chaos” and “too weak to make the tough decisions to secure our borders”.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said Labor must “back up its big promises with action”.
But Shabana Mahmoud, the Minister of Interior, replied and said the last tour The government had “left our borders in crisis and we are still living with the consequences. These figures are disgraceful – the British people deserve better”.
He said the Labor government had detained and removed more than 35,000 people illegally in the UK, but added: “It’s clear we need to go further and faster – more of those who are here illegally, and to stop migrants crossing in small boats in the first place.
And I have made it clear: I will do whatever it takes to restore order to our borders.
In 2024, 36,816 migrants made the trip, but that number is now at the top, with two months of the year still to go.
said a migrant who returned from France in a small boat guard He is a victim of modern slavery at the hands of traffickers in northern France.
Currently being held in an immigration detention center, the Interior Ministry is seeking to expedite his removal.
“If I felt safe in France, I would never go back to Britain,” he told the newspaper.
“We do not accept any abuse of our borders and we will do everything in our power to remove those who do not have the legal right to be here,” said the spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior.
“People who are returned under the pilot (with France) and subsequently try to re-enter the UK illegally will be removed.”
One of Sir Kiir’s key promises was dealt a double blow on the same day he met leaders of the Western Balkans, as Britain seeks to reduce the number of illegal immigrants from the region.
Last year, about 22,000 people were trafficked by gangs on the routes of this region.
talk to Independent Hamish Falconer, our country’s foreign minister in Algeria, warned that “simple slogans” will not solve the migrant crisis.
“We need to recognize how complex these migration flows are, how much they are supported by illegal finance and criminal gangs, and we need to be serious,” he said.
“I’m serious, the Home Secretary is serious, and the Secretary of State is not only going to do everything we can to stop the boats from coming through, but even further down the chain, to places even beyond Algeria, to Guinea and other places, to make sure that this business model, which threatens the borders of many countries, the borders here in North Africa.”
After the meeting, Sir Kiir announced that gang members and financiers who enable the people-trafficking business, including a Kosovo passport forgery ring, have been banned from traveling to the UK and removed from the UK financial system.
Maddie Harris, founder and director of the Human Rights Network, said: “We regularly hear from people who have spent time in France and traveled through Dunkirk and Calais to reach the UK, who have witnessed or experienced violence and exploitation by traffickers and smugglers. This includes people who have been or were forced to use physical violence, the use of coercion, the use of coercion and coercion. Knifing and sexual violence.
The men we spoke to who were sent to France under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme have spoken of their terror at returning to a country where they do not feel safe.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “It is the lack of legal routes that lead people to smugglers and onto flimsy boats that put their lives at risk. To prevent dangerous crossings, the UK needs to create more safe and legal routes. This means reopening family return visas for children, as well as reopening family visas with asylum seekers, giving people a safe way to reach the UK.”
