Priti Patel wrongly tells MPs France ‘not intercepting migrant boats’ as record numbers cross Channel | The Independent

Priti Patel risked inflaming a feud with France wrongly telling MPs that his authorities do not intercept migrant boats at sea.

The Home Secretary said an ‘appalling’ number of people were trying to cross the English Channel, amid a record number of crossings since the start of this year.

“I had very difficult discussions with my French counterpart, even on interceptions at sea because currently the French authorities do not intercept boats at sea,” she told the interior committee on Wednesday.

“And by that I mean the boats that left only about 250 meters from the French coast.

“I think there could be stricter enforcement measures on the French side and they heard it from me.”

French authorities intercept migrant boats spotted in their territorial waters.

The maritime prefect of the English channel announced that 30 migrants from three ships had been returned to France earlier on Wednesday.

One group was handed over to the police in Boulogne-sur-Mer and migrants from two other boats were taken to Calais.

In 2019, 1,892 migrants managed to cross the English Channel and another 1,235 were intercepted by French authorities, according to a BBC study.

Asked about the interior minister’s statement to the home affairs committee, a spokesman for the interior ministry said The Independent Ms Patel had described ‘law enforcement interceptions’ rather than ‘search and rescue operations’.

“What the Home Secretary wants to see is not just for search and rescue, but also for law enforcement purposes,” he added.

The spokesperson did not confirm whether officials would make a formal correction to the Home Affairs Committee.

In 2018, Amber Rudd resigned as Home Secretary after ‘inadvertently misleading’ the same committee on the objectives of deportation of illegal immigrants.

Ms Patel did not distinguish between different types of interception in her testimony to MPs, in which she suggested French authorities were not carrying out interceptions due to a misinterpretation of maritime law.

“We advise them to go ahead and do it,” she added. “We want to break this route, we want to make it unviable, and in my opinion the only way to do that is to intercept and bring the boats back to France.”

Asked how many people had reached UK shores in 2020, Ms Patel said she did not have the figures to hand but received daily updates and visited in Calais at the weekend.

The number of crossings has increased dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic, and more than 2,500 migrants have reached the UK so far in 2020, according to an analysis by the PA news agency.

Ms Patel said the figures she had seen were ‘shocking, appalling and at an unacceptable level’, adding that clearances from camps had caused ‘displacement’ and smugglers were using boats following increased checks on the trucks.

“If they were genuine asylum seekers, they would seek asylum in their first safe country, which is France,” she added. “Let’s not forget that many of them have traveled through many other European countries.”

The Home Secretary said 166 people were to be sent back to Italy, Germany and France, and claims had been made for a further 577 migrants who arrived in Britain this year.

Hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent over the past 10 years by his predecessors on bilateral deals, Ms Patel admitted, including the 2019 Treaty of Sandhurst in which France and Britain pledged to fight against illegal immigration.

Ms Patel defended the deal, saying the “significant amount of British taxpayers’ money” invested in security measures, including beach patrols, had been used.

“We are actively leading discussions to consider what further actions and potentially what additional cross-work is needed,” Ms Patel added.

Her comments come just days after she hailed a “new operational approach” to managing the crossings after meeting the French interior minister and agreeing to set up a Franco-British intelligence cell.

At the same time, at least 180 migrants have come to the UK across the Channel – a new single-day record.

At least four migrants died attempting the same journey in 2019 and a report published in November accused the government of pushing people to attempt the perilous crossings.

The Foreign Affairs Committee said the UK’s emphasis on closing borders “leads migrants to take more dangerous routes and pushes them into the hands of criminal groups”.

MPs condemned ministers for allowing the ‘disastrous conditions’ suffered by migrants in northern France to continue, while pouring money into increased security along France’s coasts.

The report cites research by the government itself that the crackdown in French ports has caused an increase in small boat crossings over the English Channel.

“Focusing on strengthening border security without improving conditions in the region can have the counterproductive effect of forcing migrants on desperate journeys across the Channel,” the committee concluded.