GB News was interrupted for another update on the migrant crisis as it was announced that further crossings have taken place. 600 migrants have made the illegal journey across the English Channel, with GB News revealing that 250 set off from Belgium in a smuggling “tactical shift”. It’s another huge blow for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who promised to “smash the gangs”.
Political Commentator Jennifer Powers analysed the “tactical changes” of the smuggling gangs who are operating in Belgium as well as France. “Until the incentive structure changes, we will continue to see a huge influx of migrants crossing the Channel,” she said. Presenter Stephen Dixon agreed: “It’s supply in demand. People still want to come here, therefore there will be people who will try to get them here.”
Jennifer responded: “It’s a business model. These smugglers are making huge amounts of money out of helping migrants cross the Channel and in many cases, very dangerous journeys.
“Until that demand is turned off, until the prospect of entering Britain illegally is made less attractive, they will continue to come.
Explaining how the UK can combat the problem, Jennifer said: “We need to consider turning back the boats in the Channel, which is not something we’ve been prepared to do, and we also need to look at deportation deals, so that these migrants can be returned to their country of origin.
“This is something we have with Albania which has actually been one of the few bright lights in the immigration story because we now return Albanian migrants.”
Stephen questioned whether there is an option to return immigrants to their country of departure as opposed to their country of origin.
“That requires the acquiescence of the French or the Belgian authorities and they probably don’t want these migrants anymore than we do,” Jennifer observed. “That is the difficulty of the negotiations that are ongoing with France around policing the beaches.
“The real solution is to be able to return to their country of origin.”
Highlighting a key challenge faced by the Home Office in carrying out deportations, Jennifer explained that many migrants destroy their identification documents, making it difficult to verify their country of origin.
As a result, individuals may misrepresent where they are from, leaving authorities uncertain about where they can be returned.
She added: “This is a very real problem. That’s why Rwanda or a third country was seen as a solution to those. The whole idea there was not just to send people to Rwanda, it was to change the incentive structure because people would no longer destroy their documents, so there was some logic to the scheme.”
