MIGRANT boats must be turned around in the Channel and returned to France to stop the flood of illegal crossings, a furious MP demanded last night.
Dover MP Natalie Elphicke reacted angrily after a record 482 people landed in Kent on Wednesday – taking this year’s figure above 10,000.
She said: “This year alone there have been more than 10,000 illegal crossings, and it’s only the first week of August. It’s outrageous and can’t carry on like this.
“I have long said that a new approach is needed urgently on the small boats crossings.
“To stop boats leaving France in the first place, turn boats around in the Channel and make returns. That’s the only way to bring the small boats crossings crisis to an end.”
This year alone there have been more than 10,000 illegal crossings, and it’s only the first week of August.
Natalie Elphicke
Sources said arrival numbers yesterday were “big” and are braced for more record numbers this weekend with perfect weather conditions for crossings, piling on more pressure on Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Last month, Ms Patel announced an agreement to more than double the number of police patrolling French beaches, with the Government to give France £54million.
This week, she met members of the Greek government to discuss “shared challenges on illegal migration”.
The two-day official visit saw the Home Secretary meet ministers in Athens before going out on patrol with the Hellenic coastguard off the island of Samos to learn more about the methods used to prevent small boat crossings.
Dan O’Mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander for the Home Office, said: “These dangerous small boat crossings, facilitated by criminal gangs, are putting lives at risk.”
He said the numbers are “unacceptable” and claimed that the Government’s controversial New Plan for Immigration is the “only credible long term plan to fix the broken asylum system”.
