The Conservative government’s efforts to stop Channel crossings cannot be taken seriously while illegal entrants are given the right to work, a migration analyst has claimed.
Data obtained by The Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information laws show that more than 80% of the 19,231 asylum seekers who applied for British work permits in 2022 alone were given the green light. These figures include migrants who illegally crossed the Channel.
Under the Home Office scheme, many of these almost 16,000 migrants went on to work in the care, construction, and agricultural sectors and could remain in state-subsidised accommodation at the same time.
The information was made public in the same week that MPs voted in favour of new laws designed to deter illegal Channel crossings. Migration Watch Chairman Alp Mehemt has questioned whether such legislation is likely to succeed if legal work exists on this side of the Channel. He told The European Conservative:
It’s impossible to take seriously the government’s professed commitment to stopping the boats when they give permission to so many [migrants], who’ve mostly made their way here illegally, to work.
All this does is strengthen the already powerful pull factor and add gloss to the package offered by the people traffickers. Where is the promised control?
Access to such work could help to further explain why so many illegal migrants enter Britain with no fear of facing serious repercussions.
The Telegraph explains that those allowed to work tend to end up in occupations suffering from staff shortages and are paid 80% of the standard rate. Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage told the paper that people traffickers will no doubt “advertise jobs and free board” in Britain to prospective crossers, meaning “even more will want to come.”
Even those who are not permitted to work by the Home Office can earn somewhat of a living in the black market—not least because the department does not know the whereabouts of 17,000 migrants whose asylum applications have been withdrawn.
