'Smashing people smuggling gangs won't stop the boats' suggests border security chief
18 September 2024, 08:26 | Updated: 18 September 2024, 11:42
Britain needs a deterrent to stop migrants from coming over on small boats, the new head of the border security command has suggested.
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Martin Hewitt, who was appointed this week after a long search, is said to have advised the government that it should seek to disincentivise migrants from making the dangerous Channel crossing, on top of attempts to break up people smuggling groups.
Keir Starmer ended the previous Conservative government's longstanding effort to remove illegal migrants to Rwanda as soon as he took office in July.
There were some indications that the plan, which was finally brought in after two years in spring, had begun to put some migrants off trying to make the perilous Channel crossing.
As well as the advice from Mr Hewitt, the former head of the National Police Chiefs Council, the National Crime Agency (NCA) is said to have sent round an internal note suggesting that stopping the flow of migrants across the Channel would not work without a deterrent.
UK showed ‘great interest’ in Italy-Albania migrant deal, Giorgia Meloni says
Over 22,000 people have crossed the Channel this year so far, with 10,000 of them arriving since Labour took office.
Some 46 migrants have died trying to make the crossing in 2024, and nearly 200 are thought to have died since 2018.
Tony Smith, a former head of the Border Force, told the Times: "I don’t see what the deterrent is at the moment. Afghans, Iranians, Syrians are just going to continue to fuel the smuggling supply chain. We might be able to get removal volumes up, but I think there is still a pull factor from those nationalities that we can’t normally remove people to, and I don’t see a plan to replace Rwanda.
“I think it was a mistake to abolish the Rwanda plan because it was designed to fix the problem we had with those difficult nationalities. Most of them would qualify for asylum anyway but even if they don’t, it’s really, really hard to remove them to their source countries."
Migrant policy campaigner insists a UK-Albania migrant deal "is not going to happen"
Yvette Cooper told LBC's Nick Ferrari earlier this week that the government would look at whatever works to stop the small boat crossings.
Among the options seemingly on the table are a similar plan to Italy's offshore migrant processing scheme in Albania, although Home Secretary Ms Cooper did not confirm this. She also said the Albania plan was different from the Rwanda scheme.
Starmer visited Italian PM Giorgia Meloni this week. Ms Meloni told reporters Starmer was "very interested" in the Albania scheme.
Meloni's flagship deal sees migrants who are determined to be from safe countries, and who are not classified as vulnerable, sent to Albanian while their claims are processed.
The scheme intends to see the vast majority of those sent to Albania to have their claims rejected - because Italy has determined that their country of origin is safe.
The scheme has seen a sharp drop in those making the crossing across the Mediterranean Sea to enter Europe - with other countries now looking to follow suit as they deal with their own migration crises.
Just over 43,000 have arrived in Italy so far this year, according to the United Nations, compared to a total of nearly 158,000 in 2023.
Some evidence suggests that Channel crossings are becoming even more risky, with boats less seaworthy and more overcrowded, and journeys sometimes being extended to evade police.
Others think deterrence doesn't work and the government should focus on encouraging migrants to come to the UK via safer methods and investing in the asylum processing system.
After eight people died making the crossing over the weekend, a spokesman for Amnesty International said: "These perilous crossings are seemingly becoming more and more dangerous, suggesting smugglers are taking greater chances with people's lives as they try to evade detection efforts by the UK and French authorities".
A Home Office spokesperson said over the weekend: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
"As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
"We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad. Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute these evil criminals."
