 offers some encouragement. By introducing these new measures, the Government will be hoping to significantly raise the number of interceptions on the French side, making it harder for the smugglers to launch their boats in the first place. Some may say that the cost of £63 million is prohibitive. But when weighed against the annual cost of £1.5 billion of our broken asylum system and the daily cost of £6.8 million on hotels, this is an investment that should pay dividends in the longer term – assuming it has the desired effect of reducing asylum intake on this route. At the same time, this will not stop the boats altogether. We know that the smuggling gangs operating on the French side have significant resources of their own. They won't give up easily. And under the current system, those that are able to make it into UK territorial waters will still be brought to the UK to pursue an application to stay here, either on grounds of asylum, or human rights, or as victims of trafficking. We know that the system for processing these claims is broken, with over 100,000 cases now in a Home Office backlog and applicants being dispersed daily into communities or hotels who are ill equipped to manage them. This in turn is fuelling community tensions, with some MPs and local authorities now lobbying the Home Office not to refer any more people to their constituencies. In order to eradicate the small boats route once and for all, we will need a much broader political agreement – not just with France, but also with the wider EU – and){kind=link}
There needs to be a much broader agreement with France, alongside a change in process for the removal of cohorts
The decision to embed Border Force Officers into French-led control rooms, and to increase the number of UK funded French patrols on the beaches, should be met with cautious optimism. Although we have seen very visible incursions across the English Channel rise to over 40,000 this year – with at least another 10,000 expected before then year is out – the less visible prevention of 30,000 crossings on the French side (up by 50 per cent on last year) offers some encouragement. By introducing these new measures, the Government will be hoping to significantly raise the number of interceptions on the French side, making it harder for the smugglers to launch their boats in the first place.
Some may say that the cost of £63 million is prohibitive. But when weighed against the annual cost of £1.5 billion of our broken asylum system and the daily cost of £6.8 million on hotels, this is an investment that should pay dividends in the longer term – assuming it has the desired effect of reducing asylum intake on this route.
At the same time, this will not stop the boats altogether. We know that the smuggling gangs operating on the French side have significant resources of their own. They won’t give up easily. And under the current system, those that are able to make it into UK territorial waters will still be brought to the UK to pursue an application to stay here, either on grounds of asylum, or human rights, or as victims of trafficking. We know that the system for processing these claims is broken, with over 100,000 cases now in a Home Office backlog and applicants being dispersed daily into communities or hotels who are ill equipped to manage them. This in turn is fuelling community tensions, with some MPs and local authorities now lobbying the Home Office not to refer any more people to their constituencies.
In order to eradicate the small boats route once and for all, we will need a much broader political agreement – not just with France, but also with the wider EU – and some changes in process for the more removable cohorts.