The migrant crisis in the English Channel appears to be widening in scope, with authorities warning of a broader area of launch and landing points, as 10 illegals were arrested after using a yacht to reach a harbour hundreds of miles away from the government’s preferred landing location.
The somewhat orderly process by which the British Border Force collects illegal migrants halfway across the Channel in small people smuggler boats set off from the Beaches of France appears to be breaking down.
Though the left-wing UK government has been quick to tout that crossings are down on the year, concerns are growing that the semblance of control may be disappearing.
On Sunday, ten people were arrested at the Mylor harbour in Cornwall, including two Albanians, on suspicion of immigration offences. The group reportedly reached the harbour by yacht, with a van waiting for them on arrival, the Times of London reported.
It comes amid increasing concern over the porous nature of Britain’s border control, with terror groups such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps reportedly seeking to use the Channel migrant route to smuggle agents into the UK.
With more boats arriving on British shores undetected and unintercepted, the chances of infiltration are likely higher.
Indeed, according to the Mail on Sunday, a boat carrying around 30 illegals reached Samphire Hoe near Dover last week undetected by Border Force is said to have been carrying at least one man from Russia.
While the incident has sparked concerns of potential espionage operations being run by Moscow in the Channel, there are reportedly no connections between the man and the Kremlin.
Commenting on the landings, former Army Intelligence officer, Colonel Philip Ingram, told the paper: “I am certain that there are an awful lot more boats that we are not intercepting and not knowing about. Those will be used by organised crime gangs, by terrorist organisations and hostile intelligence services to get people into the country for nefarious activities.
“There isn’t a ban on Russian nationals coming into the country but it is interesting that a Russian national has felt that they have to come across on a small boat, which suggests to me that there is something there that they didn’t want found out by going through Passport control.
“What concerns me is the motivation for spending a significant sum of money to get a place in a very dangerous little boat to come across the Channel rather than by coming in through legitimate means.”
It comes amid an alleged terror plot on RAF Fairford, a base in England used by the U.S. Air Force, which is being investigated for potential Iranian involvement.
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf noted that around one in six illegal migrants crossing the English Channel are currently from Iran, which he warned is a “catastrophe waiting to happen”.
“The situation in the English Channel is a national security emergency,” Yusuf said. “We need to put our military in the Channel and declare a national emergency and we need to deport every single person the Tories and Labour allowed into this country illegally. Then and only then can we honestly tell the British people that the government is doing what is necessary to keep them safe.”
The failure of the government to prevent illegal migrants from crossing the Channel and the expanded areas of landings over the past month has coincided with a rise in vigilantism, including groups of masked men attempting to block migrants from being brought ashore in places like Plymouth.
This has also seen the leader of the Patriot Platform, longtime Tommy Robinson ally Danny Tommo, arrested after he allegedly used a knife to slash an abandoned migrant dinghy in English waters. This week Tommo was refused bail after pleading not guilty at the Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Friday, according to the BBC. He has been remanded in custody, with a provisional trial date being set for March.