Despite months of promises by different Conservative Prime Ministers, the number of migrants entering the United Kingdom illegally by small boats from the French mainland shows little to no signs of slowing down as the UK Home Office revealed that over 10,000 people have entered the country illegally so far this year.
The Home Office noted that 707 migrants entered the UK on June 17th and 18th alone, a BBC report states, more than the entirety of illegal arrivals across the English Channel in 2018, which stood at just 539.
While this year’s figure is around 10% less than the same period last year, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claiming that illegal Albanian migrant arrivals had gone down by as much as 90%, the UK government still forecasts that the total number for 2023 will be higher than last year.
However, Sunak also claimed success in reducing the number of boats crossing the English Channel earlier this month, stating that total arrivals were down by around 30%, triple the actual figure.
Last year, over 45,000 boat migrants landed on the shores of Britain, up 500% in only two years, and the Home Office predicts that number could swell to 56,000 this year as court documents revealed the UK is planning to accommodate as many as 140,000 illegals in total.
The documents stated that at least 104,000 illegals were already being cared for and housed under the Tory government at a massive cost of £6.2 million (€7.25 million) per day as the migrants are largely housed in hotels across the country.
The boats continue arriving as Prime Minister Sunak makes yet more promises to deal with the crisis due to proposed policies falling flat, such as working with Rwanda to deport migrants to facilities in the African country.
Both the UK and the Rwandans agreed to the proposal but when the UK attempted to deport migrants in June of last year, legal activists fought against it and halted the first flight to Rwanda.
In December, the High Court ruled that the Rwanda scheme was legal and not a breach of the UK’s commitment to the UN Refugee Convention but later stated that the activists who brought the case had the right to appeal.
An appeal was heard in April of this year but no verdict has been announced so far and until the court reaches a decision, no flights to Rwanda can take place.
As the government waits for a verdict in the Rwanda case, Prime Minister Sunak has made yet more promises in an effort to deal with the crisis, including a law that would prohibit boat migrants from claiming asylum in the UK, with exceptions for children, the sick and those who face serious harm.
Expecting yet more legal challenges, Sunak stated, “We’re up for the fight, I wouldn’t be standing here if we weren’t—but we’re actually confident that we will win.”
Following the publication of the latest boat migrant figures, critics of Sunak slammed the PM, with Brexit leader Nigel Farage stating, “We are now over 10,000 that have crossed the Channel so far this year. Rishi Sunak is not stopping the boats, not a chance.”
Ben Harris-Quinney, the head of the Bow Group, the UK’s oldest conservative think-tank, spoke to The European Conservative on the issue and the failure of the Tories on illegal immigration more broadly over the last 13 years.
It was just a few weeks ago that Sunak made a big announcement: his strategy to stop the boats was working. These figures suggest however that tens of thousands of people will again illegally enter the UK via small boats this year, which in itself only represents a tiny fraction of illegal immigration, or annual immigration into the UK as a whole.
It is also over 13 years since the Conservatives pledged to end illegal immigration and cut legal immigration down to the tens of thousands. It is likely the total numbers entering the UK each year are now well over 1.5 million. Far more than the last Labour government, or any government in history. The Home Secretary has been forced to admit it is unlikely she will even be able to get the backlog of illegal migrants currently housed in UK hotels down to tens of thousands before the next election, let alone honour their election pledges.
The reality is that the British public have consistently opposed and voted against mass immigration, yet the ruling Conservative & Labour parties have done the opposite and massively increased it year on year. It is the greatest betrayal of democracy in our history, and unquestionably an intentional betrayal of the public by successive governments who serve different masters.
