Around 600 people crossed the Channel in small boats on October 18 as the migrant crisis shows no signs of stopping, despite Keir Starmer‘s promise to “smash the gangs” during Labour’s election campaign.
Now, senior UK officials are calling for France to take lessons from Belgium in getting stricter on illegal immigration, GB news reports.
It comes after just one small boat arrived in Britain from Belgium this year, since the country’s tough crackdown on smuggling gangs.
Last week, Borders Minister Angela Eagle and her Belgian counterpart, Nicole de Moor agreed to work closer together in order to tackle illegal migration.
She said: “We cannot let criminal gangs decide who enters our country, and closer relationships with our bilateral partners are fundamental to disrupting criminal networks and protecting our borders. Strengthened partnership overseas is a key priority of our new Border Security Command.
“Providing leadership across the whole system, with enhanced intelligence capabilities and law enforcement cooperation, we are using every tool at our disposal to dismantle people-smuggling gangs.”
Recent data for the week of October 13 shows that a total of 613 migrants arrived, and of that, 528 were caught.
Home Office figures show 647 people made the crossing in 10 boats on Friday, taking the total number of people crossing this year to 28,204, nearly eight per cent higher than last year.
The crossings followed the death of a baby off the coast of Wissant in the Pas-de-Calais region on Thursday evening. It was the 45th death reported by French coastguards so far this year; refugee charities are warning that the Channel crossing is becoming increasingly dangerous.
Chief executive of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon revealed that there had been more deaths this year than in the previous years combined.
He said: “This procession of death and tragedy shows we need to rethink our approach. Lives will continue to be lost if we carry on as it is.”