Nigel Farage gives update after witnessing illegal migrants enter British waters

20 May 2020, 18:15 | Updated: 21 May 2020, 20:18

Nigel Farage's powerful monologue after Border Force response

Nigel Farage gives his powerful reaction to the response from Border Force today after he travelled offshore and witnessed illegal migrants being handed over to British authorities.

Nigel sailed to the edge of British and French territorial waters and said "already there have been three migrant boats spotted."

He said: "The truth of it is this is a massive criminal enterprise that is organising all of this, making vast sums of money. You can see the boat's absolutely packed, all being charged a minimum of 500 euros each for the criminal gangs to make this crossing."

He remarked how "massively overcrowded" the dinghy full of people was.

After waiting for some time he discovered a French naval vessel was escorting illegal migrants out of French waters and into British waters.

"We've just been told by UK coastguard that they will commandeer this vessel if we film the handover between the French navy and the British border force," he said, calling for the Home Secretary to act.

Nigel Farage travels offshore to look for migrants crossing to Britain

Minister for Immigration Compliance and the Courts Chris Philp said:

“We are working tirelessly with the French to stop these illegally-facilitated crossings, sharing criminal intelligence with the NCA and French authorities. And a substantial French law enforcement deployment last weekend prevented over 100 migrants from making the crossings – with the French also stopping migrants today.

“Migrants should not risk their lives leaving a safe country and we will look return those who did today where possible.”

Of the small boat incident on 20 May:

Border Force and partner agencies have been dealing with multiple incident today (20 May) after being alerted to small boats in the Channel travelling towards the UK.

First incident: at around 03:37am, a Border Force vessel intercepted a RHIB which was carrying a group of 10 males who presented themselves as Iranian, Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Pakistani.

Second incident: at around 04:09am, a Border Force vessel intercepted a RHIB which was carrying a group of 13 males who presented themselves as Syrian.

Third incident: at around 04:31am, a Border Force vessel intercepted a RHIB which was carrying a group of 12 males and 1 female who presented themselves as Iranian and Yemeni.

Forth incident: at around 04:50am, a Border Force vessel intercepted a RHIB which was carrying a group of 17 males and 3 females who presented themselves as Iraqi and Syrian.

Fifth incident: at around 14.05pm, a Border Force vessel intercepted a RHIB which was carrying a group of 8 males who presented as Pakistani and Afghani.

All those encountered by UK Border Force will be transferred to immigration officials. They will be interviewed, and their cases will be dealt with in line with the immigration rules, transferring to detention where appropriate.

Nigel Farage recounts witnessing illegal migrant handover in a powerful monologue