Border inspector slams UK’s handling of migrants arriving by boat

• Independent border inspection slams Britain’s handling of migrants arriving on small boats from France.
• Number of people attempting the crossing of the Channel to enter Britain has increased dramatically.
• Critics say the government’s border controls are too lax, while others say asylum seekers are being treated inhumanely.

LONDON, 21 JULY – An independent border inspection has slammed Britain’s handling of migrants arriving on small boats from France as unacceptable, ineffective, and inefficient.

The number of people attempting the perilous crossing of the Channel to enter Britain has increased dramatically. Some critics say the government’s border controls are too lax, while others say people seeking asylum are being treated inhumanely.

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The inspection, led by Borders and Immigration Chief Inspector David Neal and published on Thursday, focused on the initial processing of migrants at two government centres between December 2021 and January 2022.

“These migrants crossed the Channel in perilous conditions. Many were vulnerable and at risk, including children and women on their own, and the way they were treated when they arrived in Dover was unacceptable “Neal stated.

“This is because the Home Office has failed to transition from a crisis response to having better systems and procedures in place and treating this as business as usual over the last three years.”

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According to a spokesperson for the Home Office, the department has accepted the report’s recommendations. According to the spokesperson, almost all of the associated work has already been completed, including the closure of one of the sites and the opening of a new facility.

“We have transformed how we manage migrant arrivals,” the spokesperson said.

In November 2021, 27 people died while attempting to cross the Channel in an inflatable dinghy, the worst recorded accident of its kind in the Channel, sparking a blame game between the United Kingdom and France.

London announced a new immigration policy that would send migrants to Rwanda for processing, but this has been challenged in court.

According to the report, the government’s response to the surge in migrant arrivals at Dover on the southern English coast exposed gaps in security procedures, putting vulnerable migrants at risk.

The number of people arriving by small boats increased to 28,526 in 2018, up from 8,486 in 2020 and 1,834 in 2019. The majority of the migrants came from Iran and Iraq.

Neal also called record keeping “inexcusably bad.”