The UK government on Wednesday (August 22, 2024) announced new measures to stop the arrival of migrants on boats from France and to remove failed asylum seekers.
It said 100 new “specialist intelligence and investigation officers” would be recruited to the National Crime Agency (NCA) to help dismantle smuggling gangs running the dangerous Channel crossing.
The Interior Ministry said the government aims to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in the next six months in five years.
The ministry said the new Labour government intends to increase detention capacity at removal centres and impose sanctions on employers who hire people who have no right to work in Britain.
“We are taking strong and clear steps to enhance our border security and ensure that rules are respected and followed,” Interior Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement.
Stopping the arrival of small boats was a major issue in the July 4 election, in which Labour won a landslide majority. Within days of taking power, Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped a controversial plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda, a key policy of the previous Conservative government.
Instead Mr Starmer has pledged to dismantle the people smuggling gangs who facilitate border crossings and are paid thousands of euros for each migrant they transport.
But former interior minister James Cleverly, who is in the running to become the new Conservative Party leader, accused new ministers of failing to “get a grip” on people arriving in small boats.
More than 200 people crossed the Channel in three boats on Monday, taking the total number of people who have crossed the Channel so far this year to 19,294, according to Home Office figures.