An urgent investigation was opened by the Home Office after a British border forces vessel entered French waters to pick up migrants crossing the Channel and take them to Dover.
The controversial operation was negotiated between HMCS Valiant and French patrol vessel Athos last Saturday, according to the Daily Mail.
The border agency’s action to help migrants enter the country will be seen as undermining the home minister’s efforts Priti Patel to suppress illegal passages.
She has repeatedly called on the French to tackle the crisis, which has seen a record number of migrants reach British shores.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said: “We are urgently investigating the circumstances of this incident.”
The number of people making the perilous journey across the 21-mile stretch of water has almost doubled so far in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, with more than 3,100 having reached the English coast at the end of May.
In just three days this week, nearly 600 migrants were intercepted as they attempted to cross the Channel.
The impromptu mid-Channel handover of last Saturday was revealed during a maritime radio exchange on open frequencies.
In a recording obtained by the newspaper, officers discuss the “legality” of the move.
The British cutter then entered French territorial waters and launched a rubber dinghy to pick up the migrants and take them to Dover.
In conversation, there was no suggestion that the migrant ship was in trouble, with the French only reporting that it was moving “very slowly” and therefore the incursion did not appear to be an emergency rescue mission.
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The sailor who delivered the radio message to the Mail told the newspaper: “We know the French are escorting migrant boats to the UK …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-06-05 10:47:00
