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Written question asked by Bill Wiggin (Conservative) on Monday, 1 June 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 June 2020 (named day). It was answered by Chris Philp (Conservative) on Thursday, 4 June 2020 on behalf of the Home Office.

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the accuracy of recent reports of French naval vessels escorting illegal immigrants into British waters where those immigrants have been picked up by UK Border Force officials.

Answer

Border Force vessels covering the South East Channel are usually tasked to identify migrant events by the Coastguard, with the priority being search and rescue and the safety of life. Border Force work closely with the Coastguard and French Authorities to ensure we provide an effective response to migrant events at sea. Migrants undertaking these dangerous journey’s in unsuitable and overloaded small boats are putting the lives of themselves and others at considerable risk and the priority at sea for all assets deployed is safety.

At sea, under international law, the preservation of life is paramount. In some cases, French boats will remain with migrants if they refuse rescue. But we are clear no-one should be crossing at all and we are developing plans to reform policies and laws to help to stop these crossings completely.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
51641
Session
2019-21
Subjects
Undocumented migrants France Navy Standards English Channel
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk