[Politics] Home Office won't say how many migrants arrive illegally

[BirSaNN]

 

It is a phrase we hear almost every day from government ministers: "Illegal migrants."

These are the words they use to describe the people crossing the English Channel in small boats.

But if you are going to say someone has committed a crime, you need to be able to prove that in court. That's how the law works.

So I have been trying to find out how many of the 40,000 channel-crossers this year could be said, to a legal standard, to have arrived illegally.

And it's been impossible so far to get any figures - despite it being a fairly simple question to answer.

New crime for our times
Since 28 June 2022, it has been a specific crime to knowingly arrive in the United Kingdom without proper permission. The penalty is up to four years in jail.

So if we can find out how many have been arrested, charged or convicted of this offence, we can measure the number of people who are definitely suspected of, or have committed, a crime.

This offence of illegal arrival was created by the Nationality and Borders Act - measures steered through Parliament's choppy waters earlier this year by the then Home Secretary, Priti Patel.

Just over a year ago, Tom Pursglove, the then junior ministers for tackling illegal immigration, explained to MPs that the proposed new offence aimed to tackle small boat migrants.

"They arrive in, but may not technically enter, the UK," he said, referring to the complicated procedures of borders and immigration law.

"We need to deter migrants from risking their lives and those of their families by taking such dangerous routes to the UK, and to take back control of our borders.

"The clause introduces new arrival offences to deal with the issue."

Parliament was reassured that the new crime would not target people who were "genuine refugees". Different law says they should not be penalised for seeking protection.

Today, there is wide-spread and credible reporting that the English Channel is being used by smuggling gangs as well as refugees.

 

LINK: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63555323