France is accused of 'ceding territory to people smugglers' after 700 migrants cross the Channel in one day
- Nearly 700 migrants crossed from France to the UK in a single day this week
- Total for this month so far is more than three times whole of November last year
- Wednesday’s 700 arrivals mean the figure for this year is already almost 23,000
- Whitehall source said Macron's government was only stopping a couple of boats
France has been accused of ‘ceding sovereign territory to people smugglers’ in an incendiary Whitehall attack on Emmanuel Macron’s government.
A Whitehall source spoke out as nearly 700 migrants crossed from France to the UK in a single day this week, taking the total for this month so far to more than three times that of the whole of November last year.
Blasting Mr Macron’s administration’s response, the source said: ‘They let hundreds of people potentially set sail to their death whilst only stopping a couple of boats. They appear to have ceded sovereign territory to criminal people smugglers.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, on board the Dover lifeboat, following a small boat incident in the Channel today
‘This abject failure will be raised in the strongest possible terms with Gerald Darmanin [France’s minister of the interior].’
Wednesday’s 700 arrivals mean the figure for this year is already almost 23,000 – close to three times as many as in 2020.
France has been accused of ‘ceding sovereign territory to people smugglers’ in an incendiary Whitehall attack on Emmanuel Macron’s (pictured) government
UK authorities intercepted or rescued 695 people from 22 boats, while French officials stopped just 255 from seven vessels. Despite visibility dropping during the morning and weather rapidly deteriorating at sea, around 40 people were seen disembarking from the Dover lifeboat shortly before 8am. Thirty more were brought into harbour around 9.30am on board Border Force cutter Hunter.
Around 500 more were thought to have exploited calmer seas and landed in the UK again yesterday, although the Home Office had yet to confirm exact numbers last night.
Two boats were seen arriving before 5am while RNLI’s Dungeness lifeboat The Morrell was seen bringing around 50 into Dover Marina before dawn. It returned with another 30 around 8.30am.
The RNLI dispatched lifeboats from Ramsgate, Dover, Dungeness, all in Kent, and Hastings, East Sussex.
Around 50 migrants disembarked from one lifeboat on the beach at Hastings at 12.30pm.
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Among those seen clambering up the shingle were young girls wearing thick winter coats wrapped in foil blankets.
One group of migrants was prevented from landing by rescue services after drifting dangerously close to the MoD firing range at Lydd, Kent.
It comes after a daily record of 853 sailed from mainland Europe in 25 boats on Wednesday last week and kicked off a week that saw 2,131 people arrive on British shores.
That led government sources to accuse the French of ‘lamentable inaction’. The numbers have seen tensions rise between London and Paris as it was revealed fewer than half of the migrants have been stopped by French authorities.
Dan O'Mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, with Home Secretary Priti Patel
Dan O’Mahoney, the UK’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, warned: ‘Migrants making these dangerous crossings are putting their lives at risk.
‘It is vital we do everything we can to prevent them and break the business model of the criminal gangs exploiting people.’
The monthly total for November so far has hit 2,587 compared with 757 over the same period last year.
Border Force chiefs had been planning for just 2,000 crossings over the whole of month.
Mr Macron’s government promised to stop migrants leaving French beaches through increased patrols in return for £54million from the UK.
Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the first instalment of the sum last week following assurances from her opposite number, Mr Darmanin, that 100 per cent of the boats would be intercepted if the UK pays the full amount.
