BRITAIN’s Border Force last week brought dozens of Middle Eastern boat migrants to Britain after agents intercepted five boats in the English Channel.
On Friday, after intercepting 76 illegal migrants attempting to cross the Channel, the UK’s border authority transported the migrants – 55 men and 21 women claiming to nationals from Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and Kuwait – to Dover, England, The Daily Mail reports.
In the month of April, some 400 illegal boat migrants managed to reach the UK, the highest monthly total ever recorded. So far, at least 831 boat migrants have landed in the UK in 2020, a number that’s quickly approaching the 1,850 boat migrants which reached British shores in 2019.
The worsening of conditions at migrant camps in Calais and Dunkirk which have resulted amid the Chinese COVID-19 virus outbreak are believed to be compelling migrants to make the journey across the Channel.
As of this report, several cases have been recorded at migrant camps at Calais and Dunkirk. Despite this fact, UK authorities did not conduct any COVID-19 tests on the newly arrived migrants.
Dover MP Natalie Elphicke expressed deep concern that the UK Border Force, in bringing illegal migrants from Calais and Dunkirk back to Britain, could be importing more of the virus onto the island.
Elphicke says that the migrants should either sent back to France or placed in a fourteen day quarantine upon arriving in the UK.
“France’s lockdown means people need permission just to walk the dog. So how come hundreds of migrants can still pile into small boats and illegally motor into Britain?”
“We know that the coronavirus has infected the French camps,” Elphicke continued.
“The French have been paid tens of millions of pounds to stop these dangerous journeys being made – it’s vital the Home Office make the French honour their obligations in order to stop the further spread of the virus into Britain.”
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