Channel migrants: Royal Navy set to take over English Channel operations

The Royal Navy are set to take charge of operations looking to limit migrant crossings in the English Channel within weeks, the BBC has been told.

This move could free up the Home Office to focus on reforms to the asylum system, a government source said.

The news follows reports in the Times that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was set to give the navy authority over government vessels in the channel.

Figures compiled by the BBC show at least 28,431 migrants made the journey in small boats in 2021 - up from 8,417 people the year before - despite huge UK investment in France to prevent crossings.

Asked about the move on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said it would help avoid a situation where "Border Force or other vessels in the channel are being co-ordinated separately".

A government spokesperson said the public had "rightly had enough of the blatant disregard of our immigration laws by criminal people smugglers" and ministers were "bringing in necessary long-term changes".

They added: "The UK armed forces already work closely with Border Force in these operations, providing expertise and assets as part of our processes in the Channel. It is right that we pursue all options to prevent illegal crossings and protect life at sea."

However, Defence Select Committee chair Tobias Ellwood criticised the proposals as being "rushed out" and said he would be asking questions of the government about them on Monday.

Speaking to Sky News, the Conservative MP said the plans were a "massive distraction" for the military amid growing threats from Russia and China, adding: "This isn't what our navy should be doing."

For a prime minister who promised his Brexit deal would see the UK take back control of its borders, the failure to stop record numbers of asylum seekers arriving on the Kent coast in small boats is a political embarrassment.

However, putting a rear admiral in charge of operations in the Channel is unlikely to make much difference.

The Royal Navy may be able to provide better intelligence on where inflatables and dinghies are expected to make landfall, but the great majority of those coming to seek sanctuary in Britain are already intercepted before they reach the coast.

Plans to push small boats back into French waters appear to have been deemed too dangerous and the often-trailed idea of processing migrants 'offshore' in another country has so far failed to materialise. Migrant arrival facilities in Kent are currently being expanded.

The reason for the increase in asylum seekers risking the perilous journey across the channel is that Covid and improved security at Calais has effectively closed traditional points of entry.

The government and refugee organisations agree the long-term solution is the creation of official safe routes for migrants fleeing conflict zones.

Responding the plans, CEO of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon described them as "cruel and inhumane".

"It's a desperate move by a government that isn't able to find solutions that will ensure an orderly, manageable and fair asylum system," he added.

But one Tory MP from Kent said the news sent "a clear message" over how serious the government was about putting a stop to small boat crossings

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said: "It's necessary because it's dangerous and inhumane to allow the trafficking of people across the English Channel to continue. It is incredibly unsafe and many people have tragically died."

In March last year, Home Secretary Priti Patel set out plans to overhaul the way people applying for asylum in the UK are treated.

Under the reform proposals, people who arrive in the UK by what the government calls illegal means to claim asylum will no longer have the same entitlements as those who arrive through proper channels.

At the time, Ms Patel said her plans would create a "faster and fairer" system that would "better support the most vulnerable" and the government would crack down on people smugglers exploiting those trying to reach the UK.

The Labour Party has criticised the plans for lacking compassion and being ineffective at discouraging crossings. Human rights lawyers warned they they are unlawful because they ignore Britain's international obligations.

In December, four Iranian men who crossed in small boats had their convictions for immigration offences quashed by the Court of Appeal, which concluded it had not been proven they intended to enter the UK illegally.