Crossing the Channel

 

The UK government is determined to stop illegal crossings of the English channel and continue to push the French authorities to end this dangerous and reckless activity, protecting lives and keeping our borders secure.

  • We cannot continue to have a situation where migrants cross the channel illegally, putting lives at risk, and the government shares the public’s frustration at the appalling number of crossings we saw yesterday. 
     
  • Ministers will be in Paris this week to agree stronger measures with our French counterparts and we will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to reduce the incentive to attempt to make a crossing in the first place. This includes returning migrants – with returns flights planned in the coming days – and action to tackle the heinous criminals that profit from putting people’s lives at risk.
     
  • Crossing the channel to come to the UK illegally is not only dangerous and unacceptable, it is wholly unnecessary as France is a safe country. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we will continue to take all necessary steps to secure our borders.

Let us remember that the bad guys here are not the refugees or the UK government, or our neighbours in France. It is the people smugglers who charge their victims a fortune, often their life savings, and then send them over the busiest shipping lane in the world in utterly unsafe craft. But while the perception is that people have a better chance of getting here that way then by using legal means of immigration, the people smugglers will remain in business and continue to put lives at risk. 

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