Government spent nearly £25million deploying the Royal Navy to the English Channel last year as migrant crossings reached record highs, figures show
- Operation Isotrope cost UK payers about £84,553 per day, data revealed
- The effort tried to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel illegally
- Despite the military intervention, 45,756 migrants landed in small boats in 2022
The Government spent nearly £25million deploying the Royal Navy in attempt to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel illegally, it has emerged.
The military effort, dubbed Operation Isotrope, cost taxpayers about £84,553 per day, a Freedom of Information request by The Sun on Sunday has revealed.
The Home Office resumed responsibility for Channel crossings in January following eight months of the Royal Navy taking charge of operations.
Despite the Navy's intervention, there have now been more Channel crossings in 2023 than in January and February of 2022 combined.
The Government spent nearly £25million deploying the Royal Navy in attempt to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel illegally, it has emerged. Pictured: Border Force boat Typhoon escorts 50 migrants back to Dover Harbor in June 2022
The military effort, dubbed Operation Isotrope, cost taxpayers about £84,553 per day. Pictured: Members of the RNLI remove a stretcher and body bag from the Dover lifeboat during an incident involving a small boat carrying migrants in Kent in December 2022
Navy vessels were first deployed to assist Border Force under last April by ex-PM Boris Johnson. Data published today revealed the effort cost a total of £24.77million. Pictured: Border Force escorts 50 migrants back to Dover Harbor in June 2022
Navy vessels were first deployed to assist Border Force under last April by ex-PM Boris Johnson, who said it would mean 'no boat makes it to the UK undetected'.
Operation Isotrope ended on January 31, handing the role back to Border Force.
But data published today revealed the effort cost a total of £24.77million, despite it seemingly not solving the crisis at the border.
A recorded 45,756 migrants landed in small boats in 2022. An additional 1,180 arrived in 27 vessels last month, analysis of Home Office and Ministry of Defence (MoD) provisional figures showed.
So far, 890 people have been brought to shore in 20 boats in February 2023.
The busiest day of 2023 was January 25 when 321 people were brought to the UK in eight boats, while the busiest day on record was August 22 2022, when 1,295 people were rescued.
A recorded 45,756 migrants landed in small boats in 2022. An additional 1,180 arrived in 27 vessels last month, analysis of Home Office and Ministry of Defence (MoD) provisional figures showed
So far, 890 people have been brought to shore in 20 boats in February 2023. Pictured: Migrants arriving in Dover on February 12
News of the mammoth expense of Operation Isotope comes after violent protests broke out outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Knowsley, Merseyside last weekend. Pictured: Officers are seen detaining people outside The Suites Hotel
A demonstration outside the hotel descended into chaos with protesters hurling missiles and damaging a police van. Pictured: Firefighters douse a burned out police riot van in Knowsley after a riot broke out last weekend
Fifteen people were arrested during a demonstration outside the hotel in Knowsley
News of the mammoth expense of Operation Isotope comes after violent protests broke out outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Knowsley, Merseyside last weekend.
The Suites Hotel has been used to accommodate asylum seekers in Merseyside since January 2022.
A demonstration outside the hotel descended into chaos with protesters hurling missiles and damaging a police van.
Clare Moseley, founder of refugee charity Care4Calais, was among 100 to 120 people from pro-migrant groups who went to the scene in reaction to the protest to show support for the asylum seekers and described the scene as being 'like a war zone'.
A police officer and two members of the public were injured in the violent clash that saw 15 people, including a 13-year-old boy, get arrested.
In response, officers imposed a daytime curfew at the hotel and provided some asylum-seekers with safety training.
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