Dash to Dover: Migrants cross Channel in bid to reach Britain before new rules are enforced that could see them flown to Rwanda on one-way ticket - after warning deterrent could lead to short-term surge in crossings

  • Dozens of migrants came to Britain today after warnings attempts to deter crossings could lead to a surge
  • The Government hopes to provide failed asylum seekers with a ticket to Rwanda, 4,000 miles from the UK 
  • Two large dinghies were detected with around 90 people crammed on board today and brought into Dover 
  • So far this year 6,342 people have been rescued in 195 boats while making the dangerous and illegal journey

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Dozens of migrants flocked to Britain today as there were warnings attempts to deter illegal crossings could lead to a short-term surge.

Two boats with dozens of migrants on board were brought ashore into Dover, Kent, on Monday after being intercepted by Border Force officers. 

The Government announced last week it plans to provide failed asylum seekers, including those crossing the Channel in small boats, with a one-way ticket to Rwanda.  

The two large dinghies were detected with around 90 people crammed on board and were brought into Dover Harbour on the Border Force vessel Hurricane, as so far this year 6,342 people have been rescued in 195 boats.

Men, women and young children were wearing life jackets as they were brought into the port this morning to be processed. 

Dozens of migrants flocked to Britain today as there were warnings attempts to deter illegal crossings could lead to a short-term surge

Dozens of migrants flocked to Britain today as there were warnings attempts to deter illegal crossings could lead to a short-term surge

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, following a small boat incident in the Channel

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, following a small boat incident in the Channel

Migrants picked up at sea while attempting to cross the English Channel, are pictured on a UK Border Force boat entering the marina in Dover, on April 18

Migrants picked up at sea while attempting to cross the English Channel, are pictured on a UK Border Force boat entering the marina in Dover, on April 18

A young child in a yellow animal onesie was among a group of migrants brought in to Dover, Kent, after a small boat incident

A young child in a yellow animal onesie was among a group of migrants brought in to Dover, Kent, after a small boat incident

Under a scheme designed to crack down on migrants landing on British shores after crossing the Channel in small boats, the UK intends to provide those deemed to have arrived unlawfully with a one-way ticket to Rwanda

Under a scheme designed to crack down on migrants landing on British shores after crossing the Channel in small boats, the UK intends to provide those deemed to have arrived unlawfully with a one-way ticket to Rwanda 

A group of migrants were saved from a small boat in the Channel today, given orange-red life jackets and brought to Dove

A group of migrants were saved from a small boat in the Channel today, given orange-red life jackets and brought to Dove

Windy conditions in the Channel were expected to prevent large numbers attempting the treacherous crossing over the Easter weekend. 

On Saturday the Royal Navy and Border Force intercepted 252 migrants attempting to make the treacherous journey.

Despite choppy conditions in the 21-mile wide Dover Straits, seven flimsy dinghies made the dangerous voyage and were rescued in British waters.  

More than 6,000 migrants have been detained after making the dangerous journey across the Channel so far this year

More than 6,000 migrants have been detained after making the dangerous journey across the Channel so far this year

A man gestures as migrants arrive at Dover Marina after being picked up by the border force in the Channel on April 18

A man gestures as migrants arrive at Dover Marina after being picked up by the border force in the Channel on April 18

The Government announced last week it plans to provide failed asylum seekers, including those crossing the Channel in small boats, with a one-way ticket to Rwanda

 The Government announced last week it plans to provide failed asylum seekers, including those crossing the Channel in small boats, with a one-way ticket to Rwanda

Two large dinghies were detected with around 90 people crammed on board and were brought into Dover Harbour on the Border Force vessel Hurricane

Two large dinghies were detected with around 90 people crammed on board and were brought into Dover Harbour on the Border Force vessel Hurricane

Each migrant was given a life jacket and taken to Dover, Kent, for processing. However, even migrants arriving today could face being sent to Rwanda

Each migrant was given a life jacket and taken to Dover, Kent, for processing. However, even migrants arriving today could face being sent to Rwanda

Migrants who are sent with a one-way ticket to Rwanda would face a flight more than 4,000 miles away to the African country

Migrants who are sent with a one-way ticket to Rwanda would face a flight more than 4,000 miles away to the African country

The UN has branded the proposed scheme as 'unacceptable' while the Archbishop of Canterbury said it was 'ungodly'

The UN has branded the proposed scheme as 'unacceptable' while the Archbishop of Canterbury said it was 'ungodly'

A total of 28,526 migrants made the treacherous crossing 2021 - significantly higher than the 8,410 who arrived in 2020.

In 2021 that figure was not reached until July 10, while 1,713 people have been arrived this month alone. 

Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglove MP, has said: 'The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

'Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes. Rightly, the British public has had enough.

'Through our Nationality and Borders Bill, we're cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introducing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for those who facilitate illegal entry into our country.' 

 

A record 28,395 migrants reached the UK illegally last year by taking small boats across the Channel, a 200 per cent increase on 2020's tally

A record 28,395 migrants reached the UK illegally last year by taking small boats across the Channel, a 200 per cent increase on 2020's tally

Migrants travelling to the UK on small boats will be put on jets and sent 4,000 miles away to Rwanda while their applications are processed. Pictured: A map detailing the plan proposed by the Prime Minister

Migrants travelling to the UK on small boats will be put on jets and sent 4,000 miles away to Rwanda while their applications are processed. Pictured: A map detailing the plan proposed by the Prime Minister

A view of facilities at Hope House, a hostel in Nyabugogo, the Gasabo district of the capital city Kigali, in Rwanda - where migrants shipped from Britain will initially be taken

A view of facilities at Hope House, a hostel in Nyabugogo, the Gasabo district of the capital city Kigali, in Rwanda - where migrants shipped from Britain will initially be taken

How will the new Rwanda migrant scheme work? 

Cross-channel arrivals assessed and anyone deemed an economic migrant rather than a refugee is sent to Rwanda

  • Initial agreement worth £120million over five years  
  • Failed immigrants urged to start new life in Africa 
  • Initially based at hostel in Kigali
  • Hope House is currently being used as budget accommodation for tourists
  • Privately owned, the East African nation's government is understood to be in negotiations to lease the property 
  • Memorandum of understanding (MOU) says Government will screen asylum seekers 'without delay' after arrival in the UK
  • All requests will require approval from Rwanda before relocation
  • Nation can refuse to take people with criminal records 
  • People who cross the Channel in small boats will undergo initial checks at the Western Jet Foil facility in Dover
  • Further checks at a processing site in Manston, Kent. Where their claim is deemed inadmissible, they may be removed to a 'third safe country'. 
  • Royal Navy to lead Channel policing role, helping Border Force from today
  • PM attacked 'a formidable army of politically motivated lawyers' who have thwarted previous action
  • PM: 'Our compassion may be infinite but our capacity to help people is not. We can't ask the British taxpayer to write a blank cheque to cover the costs of anyone who might want to come and live here.' 
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The Government has said the £120million five-year plan to send migrants to Rwanda would help to break people-smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants across the Channel, which has faced immediate and heavy criticism from politicians and charities. 

Although migrants will be able to apply to live in Rwanda permanently, there has been huge backlash against the plans to send migrants to the African country that is more than 4,000 miles from Britain.

Just four years ago Rwandan police shot dead 12 refugees as they protested a UN cut to food rations and the country is marred by the 1994 genocide that saw 800,000 people murdered, many of them hacked to death in their own homes. 

Yet Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday slammed the 'synthetic outrage' over the Rwanda plans.

She also accused political opponents of treating exploited migrants with contempt and slammed 'shameful' human rights lawyers for profiting from traffickers sending groups to the UK in flimsy dinghies, The Sun reports. 

Ms Patel said:  'All I've heard the last couple of days is a typical hysterical reaction from the Left, particularly through their social media echo chamber.

'All they have to offer is synthetic outrage. Labour doesn't have a plan. They don't care about Britain's interests or UK taxpayers who foot the bill.

'They are showing complete contempt for democracy and the wishes of the British ­people who have been crying out for years for action to fix our broken asylum system and tackle illegal migration.'

A Government source told the Mail on Sunday that after striking a dramatic deal, the Home Secretary wants to spread the word internationally and let 'people know the rules have changed and if you arrive illegally to the UK, you can be deported to Rwanda'.  

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also warned that 'anyone entering the UK illegally, as well as those who have arrived illegally since 1 January, may now be relocated to Rwanda'.

A £100,000 information campaign will use social media to reach people in 'source countries' in their own languages. 

Jacob Rees-Mogg also suggested today that migrants crossing the Channel in small boats are 'supporting organised crime'.

The Cabinet minister, speaking on Radio 4's The World This Weekend programme, said he disagrees with the Archbishop of Canterbury's interpretation of the Government's new immigration policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

In his Easter sermon, Justin Welby earlier said 'sub-contracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well, like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God'.

Reacting to the sermon, Mr Rees-Mogg said: 'I think he misunderstands what the policy is trying to achieve, and that it isn't an abandonment of responsibility, it is in fact a taking on of a very difficult responsibility.

'The problem that is being dealt with is that people are risking their lives in the hands of people traffickers, to get into this country illegally. Now, it's not the illegal bit of it, it is the encouragement of people traffickers that needs to be stopped.'

He added that '90 per cent of people coming are young men who by coming via people traffickers are jumping the queue for others'.

Mr Rees-Mogg continued: 'They are in doing so not only risking their lives but supporting organised crime. What we need to do is focus on legal routes into this country of which there are quite a number.' 

The new deal – expected to be the subject of legal challenges – was presented to Cabinet Ministers on Wednesday by Ms Patel and the Prime Minister.

The Rwandan government will receive £120 million in investment from the UK with the cost of housing each migrant for three months estimated at £20,000 to £30,000.

Ms Patel issued a ministerial direction, only the second in the department for 30 years, to force through the policy after objections from Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft. 

Senior Home Office civil servants have expressed dismay at the cost. One said: 'It will be astronomical. The legal bill alone will be huge.'

Last night, the Home Office published an exchange of letters between Ms Patel and Mr Rycroft in which he called for a ministerial direction as he could not justify the policy's value for money.

The package also includes a new immigration centre for 500 men at a former RAF base in Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire.

Speaking after Saturday's crossings, Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration Tom Pursglove MP said: 'The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

'Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes. Rightly, the British public has had enough.

'Through our Nationality and Borders Bill, we're cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introducing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for those who facilitate illegal entry into our country.'  

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