Providing the French authorities with £55 million to combat migrants crossing the strait in small boats is a “big buck”, a Conservative colleague told the Secretary of the Interior because she was questioned by members of parliament.
Priti Patel revealed on Tuesday night that she had Agree to pay this amount as part of the transaction In cooperation with French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, the number of police officers patrolling the French coast will be doubled.
On Monday, 430 people arrived on the British coast by boat, setting a single-day record. According to official data compiled by PA Media, another 287 people arrived in the UK on Tuesday, bringing this year’s total to at least 8,452. See more people, including children, arriving on Wednesday.
Humanitarian organizations have stated that the blockade strategy will not help resolve the causes of strait crossing points and urge the government to create and strengthen safe and legal routes to the UK for asylum seekers.
Patel appeared before the Special Committee on the Interior of the House of Commons on Wednesday to defend the further payment of 55 million pounds to the French authorities as part of an effort to reduce the number of border crossings, even though it had already been paid. France Last year for the same purpose, it was about 28 million pounds.
Tim Lawton, a member of the Conservative Party of the committee, said: “At the end of last year, you reached an agreement with the French to provide them with 31.4 million euros to help prevent the entry of cross-strait migrants.
“We were told that the money will be used to double the number of military police. This is a set of technical measures to improve testing, improve security infrastructure and provide accommodation centers.
“Since then, the number of ships crossing the English Channel has hit a record high, and the number of French interceptions has actually fallen.”
Speaking of the recent £55 million installment payment, he asked: “Isn’t this a big deal?”
Patel said: “This is a constantly changing situation, and the number of immigrants trying to transit from France has increased dramatically.
“Our colleagues in France, our operating partners, and our operating partners in the UK (including our intelligence partners) have seen a radical change in how border crossings operate.”
She said that most of the immigrants now do not come from Calais, but are “widely distributed” along the entire French coastline.
Lawton told Patel that she had been “excused” by the French authorities.
Border Defense Director Paul Lincoln told the committee that French authorities conducted more than 2,100 interceptions in the strait in the first six months of 2020, compared with 6,000 this year.
Border guard ships and French warships were active again in the Strait of Dover on Wednesday.
Seeing a toddler crying as he came ashore in Dover, this was part of a group of people arriving at the port in a border guard patrol boat.
Someone saw immigration officials helping some people up the gangway and leading them to a white processing tent.
Despite the proliferation of such border crossings, the UK still receives far fewer ship arrivals and asylum applications compared to many European counterparts.
