The government’s “small boats week” has been slammed as a “gimmick” as it ended with a new daily record for Channel crossings.
More than 700 people arrived in small boats on Thursday, the highest daily total for 2023, pushing the total number of migrants making the dangerous voyage since 2018 over 100,000.
The milestone was hit during “small boats week”, where the government sought to make a series of positive announcements regarding efforts to combat crossings, but was hit instead by a barrage of negative stories.
A former minister told The Independent: “This has been a week of gimmicks without any substance.
“It sounds like it’s people putting out headlines as a distraction from operational failures to stop the boats.
“All they’re doing is reinforcing the fact the government has failed and the public has seen that.”
Stopping the boats is one of Rishi Sunak’s five key pledges to the British public, but experts believe a small reduction in arrivals since 2022 has mainly been caused by unseasonably poor weather causing rough sea conditions.
The prime minister has also vowed to reduce £6m-a-day spending on hotels for asylum seekers by using military bases and vessels, but they have been hit by delays, safety concerns and legal changes.
Monday saw the first asylum seekers moved onto the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset, but the number was much smaller than expected after a spate of legal letters and refusals.
Referring to comments by Conservative Party deputy chair Lee Anderson, who said that asylum seekers resisting being moved onto the barge should “f*** off back to France”, the ex-minister said: “Things are really bad and they’re making things worse by being so inflammatory with their rhetoric. The public just want us to shut up and get on with it.”
Asylum seeker films inside Bibby Stockholm barge after moving in
The week has also seen a raft of potential policies floated, including withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights if the Supreme Court stops the Rwanda plan, and sending asylum seekers to Ascension Island instead.
The former minister said the plans were not practical, and hit out at the “never-ending fantasy policy of ministers on a sinking ship, who are trying to push the blame elsewhere”.
Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, said: “Small boat crossings have increased more than twentyfold over the last four years on the Conservatives’ watch.
“The criminal gangs who profit from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk have continued to run rings around this government, with their profits soaring from £1m a few years ago to over £200m today, while convictions have collapsed.
“After years of empty pledges and broken promises, the Tories’ asylum chaos is just getting worse and worse.”
The Home Office’s trials look set to continue. After being forced to reverse transfer notices for at least 20 migrants selected for the Bibby Stockholm, it issued “threatening” letters telling others refusing the barge to move or having government housing withdrawn.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought into Dover, Kent, onboard the Ramsgate Lifeboat following a small boat incident in the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA)
(PA Wire)
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick claimed on Wednesday that a “significant” number of asylum seekers who initially objected had since changed their minds and moved on board.
However, the Home Office has refused to give numbers and it is not clear whether it will go through with its threats, which would trigger further legal action if asylum seekers were made homeless and destitute.
On Tuesday, the government announced a crackdown on immigration lawyers it claims are helping migrants “exploit” the system, but it faced an immediate backlash from legal groups accusing ministers of scapegoating the profession for upholding the government’s own laws.
The following day saw the unveiling of new partnership with Turkey to disrupt the supply of dinghies used for Channel crossings, saying it would increase cooperation and intelligence sharing.
Mr Jenrick refused to disclose the amount of money handed over by the UK government but admitted it was “giving some funding”.
Home Office figures show that 755 people arrived on 14 dinghies on Thursday, including a group of migrants who were rescued after they fell into the water.
(AFP via Getty Images)
The influx comes after a period of unseasonably rough and windy weather that has hampered crossings in recent weeks.
Home Office figures show that almost 16,000 migrants have made the journey so far this year, compared to around 18,700 at the same point during a record-breaking 2022.
The latest official statistics show that 92 per cent of small boat migrants arriving since 2018 have claimed asylum, but that only 16 per cent of their applications have been decided. Of those, two thirds were granted.
The Care4Calais charity said a “near-tragedy” where people were rescued from a sinking dinghy on Thursday demonstrated the danger of trying to cross the Channel and “why no one would attempt it unless they were truly desperate”.
Chief executive Steve Smith added: “These horrifying incidents are happening because the UK government has effectively cut every safe route for the survivors of conflict, torture and modern slavery to claim asylum in the UK.
“And they will continue to happen unless the government faces up to this reality, and accepts the only policy that will end small boat crossings is safe passage for refugees to safely claim asylum in the UK.”
Afghans are now the most common nationality arriving in small boats, following the collapse in the number of refugees resettled directly from the country.
Last month, the government passed a raft of punitive asylum laws aiming to see small boat migrants detained and deported without having their claims considered.
But the Illegal Migration Act cannot be implemented because there are no operational deportation agreements in place, with the £140m Rwanda scheme ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal.
Even if the government wins the final stage of the legal battle at the Supreme Court later this year, the Lord Chief Justice said “the physical capacity for housing asylum seekers in Rwanda was limited to 100”.