https://sputnikglobe.com/20220721/uk-home-office-fails-to-handle-increased-flow-of-migrants-via-english-channel-1097673757.html

UK Home Office Fails to Handle Increased Flow of Migrants Via English Channel

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK Home Office has failed to control the flow of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, Independent Chief Inspector of... 21.07.2022, Sputnik International

2022-07-21T18:30+0000

2023-05-28T15:20+0000

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According to the inspector, citing Home Office statistics, 28,526 people arrived on the south coast of the country in small boats in 2021, which is a significant increase from 236 in 2018."These migrants crossed the [English] Channel in dire circumstances. Many were vulnerable and at risk, including children and women on their own, and when they arrived in Dover the way they were dealt with was unacceptable. This is because the Home Office has failed over the past three years to move from a crisis response to having better systems and procedures in place and treating this as business as usual," Neal said in the report.The inspector added that equipment used to carry out security checks was often outdated and unreliable, while biometrics, such as taking fingerprints and photographs, were not always recorded.Over 200 migrants had fled from secure hotels between September 2021 and January 2022, and not all had been biometrically enrolled, the statement added, citing the Home Office.

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UK Home Office Fails to Handle Increased Flow of Migrants Via English Channel

18:30 GMT 21.07.2022 (Updated: 15:20 GMT 28.05.2023)

© AP Photo / Kirsty WigglesworthIn this file photo dated Saturday Aug. 8, 2020, a Border Force vessel at the port city of Dover, England. Fifteen migrants have been saved Tuesday Oct. 27, 2020, as search and rescue operations by the Border Force continue, but at least four migrants, including a 5-year-old and 8-year-old child, have died Tuesday when their boat capsized while they and other migrants tried to cross the English Channel to Britain, French authorities said. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, FILE)

In this file photo dated Saturday Aug. 8, 2020, a Border Force vessel at the port city of Dover, England. Fifteen migrants have been saved Tuesday Oct. 27, 2020, as search and rescue operations by the Border Force continue, but at least four migrants, including a 5-year-old and 8-year-old child, have died Tuesday when their boat capsized while they and other migrants tried to cross the English Channel to Britain, French authorities said. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, FILE) - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.07.2022

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK Home Office has failed to control the flow of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Neal said on Thursday.

According to the inspector, citing Home Office statistics, 28,526 people arrived on the south coast of the country in small boats in 2021, which is a significant increase from 236 in 2018.

"These migrants crossed the [English] Channel in dire circumstances. Many were vulnerable and at risk, including children and women on their own, and when they arrived in Dover the way they were dealt with was unacceptable. This is because the Home Office has failed over the past three years to move from a crisis response to having better systems and procedures in place and treating this as business as usual," Neal said in the report.

The inspector added that equipment used to carry out security checks was often outdated and unreliable, while biometrics, such as taking fingerprints and photographs, were not always recorded.

Over 200 migrants had fled from secure hotels between September 2021 and January 2022, and not all had been biometrically enrolled, the statement added, citing the Home Office.