Boris Johnson attacks 'stupid' illegal Channel crossings

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denounced Monday August 10 as " stupid, dangerous and criminal " to want to cross the Channel illegally to the United Kingdom, on the eve of talks in Paris devoted to the record flow of migrants using this route.

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British Secretary of State for Immigration, Chris Philp, is visiting the French capital on Tuesday to urge the French authorities to strengthen their system against illegal immigration. " There is no doubt that we are witnessing the activities of cruel and criminal gangs who risk the lives of these people by making them cross the Channel, a very dangerous arm of the sea on boats potentially unsuitable for navigation at sea ", Boris Johnson said on the sidelines of a visit to a London school.

4,000 migrants arrived illegally in 2020

" We want to put an end to it, together with France, and make sure they understand that this is not a good idea, it is a very bad idea, stupid, dangerous and criminal ", he said. added, specifying also wanting to change the British legislation which currently makes it " very, very difficult " to deport illegally arrived migrants.

According to the PA agency's tally, more than 4,000 migrants have arrived in the UK illegally via the Channel since the start of the year, including around 600 since last Thursday alone, with several days of crossings at record levels.

Interior Minister Priti Patel, who visited coastguards at the port of Dover on Monday, asked for help from the Navy, which said it was considering the request. She commissioned former Royal Navy Dan O'Mahoney to make illegal Channel crossings “ impractical ”. On Monday morning, a Royal Air Force plane was deployed to support the coast guard, the Defense Ministry said.

A plan to combat illegal sea crossings

According to the French Ministry of the Interior, additional troops have already been deployed in response to this influx. In July, ten times more crossings were prevented than in July 2019 and four times as many boats and equipment were discovered in the dunes.

A plan to fight against illegal sea crossings, drawn up in consultation with the British authorities, is being finalized to strengthen the means of control on the coasts and upstream of the main crossing points, said the French Ministry of the Interior. . Last month, a “ Franco-British intelligence unit ” in the fight against migrant smugglers was set up.