The inability or unwillingness of the “Conservative” government in Westminster to “stop the boats” was put on display again over the weekend, as 748 illegals were brought ashore at Dover after crossing the English Channel from France, taking the total for this time of year to a new record high.
The Home Office said that 214 illegal boat migrants were recorded reaching Britain on Saturday and a further 534 crossings on Sunday, the highest daily figure seen so far this year.
The 748 illegal arrivals mean that a record 6,265 have crossed the Channel so far this year, an increase of 28 per cent over last year when 4,899 had crossed at this point and seven per cent higher than the previous record of 5,828 seen in 2022 at this time, The Telegraph reports.
The new record suggests that this year is on pace to surpass the yearly record of 45,774 seen in 2022.
Last year, the government hailed a 36 per cent decrease in illegal crossings as somehow a result of government policy, which mostly consisted of sending billions more to Paris to increase police patrols of people smuggling hotspots along the French coast.
However, the apparently premature claims of success by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Tories were heavily disputed, with analysis finding that last year’s decline was more likely a result of the weather conditions in the English Channel than government policy.
The claims of success were further undercut by Downing Street blaming the milder weather for the increase seen this year, in a tacit admission that nature is currently playing the determinative role rather than the government.
The government’s central illegal migrant deterrence policy, of sending boat migrants directly to the East African nation of Rwanda to have their asylum claims processed instead of putting them up for free in Britain while a decision is being made, has been delayed for nearly two years by legal challenges.
A supposed legal fix is expected to finally clear the House of Commons this week, potentially allowing for migrant removal flights to finally take off this Summer.
However, critics of the bill, including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick have warned that the failure to remove the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) — a technically separate body from the EU that Britain’s membership in was unaffected by Brexit — will see judges in Strasbourg once again block migrant removals, as they did in 2022.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggested earlier this month that if the ECHR did attempt to block flights again, he would consider withdrawing the UK from the convention. Yet it remains to be seen if Sunak could feasibly do so, with globalist elements within his administration already leaking to the press of a potential cabinet revolt if he tried to fully reclaim sovereignty over Britain’s borders.
Nevertheless, the government is reportedly making preparations to potentially sign similar deals to the one negotiated with Rwanda with other nations to house migrants, according to The Times of London. The British paper of record claimed that internal government documents said that deals with Armenia, Botswana, Costa Rica, and the Ivory Coast could be inked if the Rwanda scheme proves successful. Under the terms of the deal, the UK is expected to send £370 million to Rwanda over five years to house illegal migrants.
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