UK steps up plans to tackle migrant Channel crossings with new commander

 

FILE PHOTO: A migrant woman reunites with her child after arriving at Dover harbour, in Dover, Britain August 9, 2020. REUTERS/Paul Childs/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain appointed a commander on Sunday to lead its response to illegal small boat crossings across the Channel and said it was exploring tougher action after a spate of migrant arrivals.

 

Taking advantage of calm sea conditions, hundreds of people including children and pregnant women have made the dangerous crossing in recent days in rubber dinghies and small vessels.

 

On Sunday, the UK's Border Force said it was dealing with "ongoing small boat incidents" off the coast of Kent in southern England, 33-km (21-mile) across the Channel from France.

 

Interior minister Priti Patel said the UK was working to make the Channel route "unviable" and named Dan O'Mahoney, a former Royal Marine, as Britain's Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, creating a new role to deal with the issue.

 

He will "urgently explore tougher action in France", a statement from the interior ministry said on Sunday, referring to plans to intercept boats at sea and try to return them.

 

The government asked Britain's armed forces to help deal with the boats carrying migrants on Saturday, when the interior ministry said 15 vessels were brought to the UK carrying 151 migrants.

 

UK and French officials are set to hold talks next week and Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper said France was set to ask Britain to pay 30 million pounds ($40 million) to bolster its policing of the maritime border in the Channel.

 

A French interior ministry spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the report.

 

"There will be discussions this week to continue the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the fight against illegal crossings of the English Channel,” the spokesman said.

 

O'Mahoney said he wanted to focus on ending the "heinous crime" of people smuggling across the Channel. He has previously worked as director of the UK's Joint Maritime Security Centre and held a senior position at the National Crime Agency.

 

($1 = 0.7668 pounds)

 

(Reporting by Sarah Young, additional reporting by Richard Lough in Paris; Editing by Gareth Jones and Philippa Fletcher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-10

 

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No point in expecting the Royal Navy to protect Britain's borders and inhabitants. What might work, seeing as it works for everything else, is money. I would have Boris tell Macron that for every illegal making the crossing(let's be honest is 20 military age African males setting of on a dingy from Calais subtle!?) he will impound 10 million Euros of French citizens wealth in the UK, starting with French diplomats and officials in the UK. That will get their attention. The fine will be x10 if the French navy are chauffering the migrants to the middle of the channel. If the French ignore laws, the Brits can too, see how they like it then.

 

"The French Navy is escorting migrant boats across the Channel and into British waters"

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/27/french-navy-escorting-channel-migrants-british-waters-people/

Maybe Boris should just build a wall and get the French to pay for it?

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

(let's be honest is 20 military age African males setting of on a dingy from Calais subtle!?)

Not subtle at all, your xenophobia and racism is crystal clear.

"There will be discussions this week to continue the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the fight against illegal crossings of the English Channel,” the spokesman said.

 

Out of curiosity, is it actually illegal to cross the English Channel?

 

 

 

 

37 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

"There will be discussions this week to continue the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the fight against illegal crossings of the English Channel,” the spokesman said.

 

Out of curiosity, is it actually illegal to cross the English Channel?

 

 

 

 

 

39 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

"There will be discussions this week to continue the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the fight against illegal crossings of the English Channel,” the spokesman said.

 

Out of curiosity, is it actually illegal to cross the English Channel?

 

 

 

 

for illegal immigrants if not it should be

1 minute ago, bert bloggs said:

 

for illegal immigrants if not it should be

I’m sure there are many things that should be illegal, I suspect you would think of many more things than I, but that doesn’t answer my question.

 

The reason I ask is simply this, if it is not actually ‘illegal’ to cross the English Channel, then on what basis can the new ‘Commander’ intervene in anyone doing something that is not ‘illegal’.

 

 

A few canons dotted along the coastline would solve the problem.

While our corrupt and incompetent government fails in everything they do except the transfering of taxpayers' money to their friends' offshore bank accounts, this makes for a great distraction. Let's get the little people riled about even littler people while we continue to bleed them dry. The UK is a country of myopic, brain dead sheep.

But the UK is prepared to allow in millions of rich Chinese, Hong Kong!

19 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’m sure there are many things that should be illegal, I suspect you would think of many more things than I, but that doesn’t answer my question.

 

The reason I ask is simply this, if it is not actually ‘illegal’ to cross the English Channel, then on what basis can the new ‘Commander’ intervene in anyone doing something that is not ‘illegal’.

 

 

 

It is refreshing that we have a few champions of the oppressed in our ranks. The masses are too easily influenced by tabloid headlines screaming for action. And it is the ' brain dead sheep ' ( to quote Ruam Rudy ) who sadly also have the vote , that read the tabloids and become all agitated.

 

I would be interested to know what you and he think would be the correct way to deal with asylum seekers as I am sure the current government seems to be at a loss.

I wonder what this guy is going to do - after Brexit the Dublin Agreement ends. The UK is no longer authorised to return refugees crossing the Channel. Royal Navy is unable to enter French waters without permission, must intercept boats in UK waters, and is required by international maritime law to land them in the UK.

12 minutes ago, tebee said:

I wonder what this guy is going to do - after Brexit the Dublin Agreement ends. The UK is no longer authorised to return refugees crossing the Channel. Royal Navy is unable to enter French waters without permission, must intercept boats in UK waters, and is required by international maritime law to land them in the UK.

naah,

there are alternative, intensivate the border control at sea, stop trespassers at the border

rather than on the UK beach

6 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

"There will be discussions this week to continue the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the fight against illegal crossings of the English Channel,” the spokesman said.

 

Out of curiosity, is it actually illegal to cross the English Channel?

 

 

 

 

Taking a day trip in the English channel wouldn't be illegal. However, entering UK territorial waters, 12 and 6 mile limits would be illegal if the correct paperwork wasn't produced. Even if they had passports they still need a reason to be there.

 

I'm not sure what the RN is like now-a-days (been out of that for a while) but IMO they should replace the rigid inflatables on the fishery protection vessels with FPCs (Fast Pursuit Craft) like we used in Hong Kong and re-assign a couple of them to the area. Nothing like a boat crewed up powered by twin 200 outboards travelling at 65 knots to get your attention. Not much running away from that.

 

I'm sure Dan O'Mahoney knows this and still has contacts in Poole.................

 

However, prevention is better than cure in all cases so I hope something is worked out between France & the UK. But if you do need to use deterrent, use it hard.

Boarding a boat is probably not illegal, so there’s nothing much the French police can do about it. They could patrol the border in the channel, but that would cost a bit for nothing in return (quite the opposite, they’re probably happy to get rid of people who want to leave anyway; wow, that sounds like Brexit). So the UK would have to pay if it wanted to outsource their border control to the French, but that would upset Brexiteers who wanted to “take back control” of their borders. So in the end, the UK will have to deal with them, unless it wants to build a wall in the channel. Sending them back will hardly work as many don’t have paperwork. It’s not like you can put them in the mail and write “E. Macron, Paris” on it. 
 

I believe the UK and France will agree on a deal similar to the one between the EU and Turkey. 

 

23 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Boarding a boat is probably not illegal, so there’s nothing much the French police can do about it. They could patrol the border in the channel, but that would cost a bit for nothing in return (quite the opposite, they’re probably happy to get rid of people who want to leave anyway; wow, that sounds like Brexit). So the UK would have to pay if it wanted to outsource their border control to the French, but that would upset Brexiteers who wanted to “take back control” of their borders. So in the end, the UK will have to deal with them, unless it wants to build a wall in the channel. Sending them back will hardly work as many don’t have paperwork. It’s not like you can put them in the mail and write “E. Macron, Paris” on it. 
 

I believe the UK and France will agree on a deal similar to the one between the EU and Turkey. 

 

its not necessarily a question of sending back,

the objective is to not let into UK

 

no paperwork - no hindrance - you don't have to  let people into UK paperwork or not

 

7 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

its not necessarily a question of sending back,

the objective is to not let into UK

 

no paperwork - no hindrance - you don't have to  let people into UK paperwork or not

 

Like I said, you would have to build a wall in the channel then in order to not let anyone in in the first place. Once their boats are in UK waters, what the UK gonna do? 

47 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Boarding a boat is probably not illegal, so there’s nothing much the French police can do about it. They could patrol the border in the channel, but that would cost a bit for nothing in return (quite the opposite, they’re probably happy to get rid of people who want to leave anyway; wow, that sounds like Brexit). So the UK would have to pay if it wanted to outsource their border control to the French, but that would upset Brexiteers who wanted to “take back control” of their borders. So in the end, the UK will have to deal with them, unless it wants to build a wall in the channel. Sending them back will hardly work as many don’t have paperwork. It’s not like you can put them in the mail and write “E. Macron, Paris” on it. 
 

 

47 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

I believe the UK and France will agree on a deal similar to the one between the EU and Turkey. 

 

Would that be the deal where turkey keep threatening to open the floodgates unless more wonga is produced?

 

15 minutes ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Like I said, you would have to build a wall in the channel then in order to not let anyone in in the first place.

 

Once their boats are in UK waters, what the UK gonna do? 

Use the suggested solution in post #9.

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Britain's Clandestine Channel Threat Commander,

Oh dear....like something out of comic book

 

"urgently explore tougher action in France"...........good luck with that.......I know what I would say if I were French.

1 minute ago, twocatsmac said:

 

Would that be the deal where turkey keep threatening to open the floodgates unless more wonga is produced?

 

Use the suggested solution in post #9.

You can put whatever you want on your coastline. Once a boat is in your waters, it’s your problem. So the only feasible solution seems to be investing enough in France so that these refugees don’t even start their journey. Your inhuman violence fantasies are just that. 

1 hour ago, chrisinth said:

Taking a day trip in the English channel wouldn't be illegal. However, entering UK territorial waters, 12 and 6 mile limits would be illegal if the correct paperwork wasn't produced. Even if they had passports they still need a reason to be there.

 

I'm not sure what the RN is like now-a-days (been out of that for a while) but IMO they should replace the rigid inflatables on the fishery protection vessels with FPCs (Fast Pursuit Craft) like we used in Hong Kong and re-assign a couple of them to the area. Nothing like a boat crewed up powered by twin 200 outboards travelling at 65 knots to get your attention. Not much running away from that.

 

I'm sure Dan O'Mahoney knows this and still has contacts in Poole.................

 

However, prevention is better than cure in all cases so I hope something is worked out between France & the UK. But if you do need to use deterrent, use it hard.

Your seemingly authoritative post would benefit from a links to relative legislation.

10 hours ago, webfact said:

a former Royal Marine, as Britain's Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, creating a new role to deal with the issue.

Ah ha - an ex-commando?? Great, instigate Operation Overlord 2 !!

 

I would just like to say that I strongly object to the 'English' Channel.  It does not belong to England, just a small part of it.  So therefore, boats crossing the Channel are only illegal up  to a certain point.  That is when they get to English waters.

Edited August 10, 20205 yr by Gillyflower

The French are more than happy to see them leaving. Hope the new Commander still remembers how to press the right buttons for launching the response.

11 minutes ago, Burma Bill said:

Ah ha - an ex-commando?? Great, instigate Operation Overlord 2 !!

 

The immigrants will soon be using those, supplied by you know who.....????

2 hours ago, gamini said:

But the UK is prepared to allow in millions of rich Chinese, Hong Kong!

Money always talk .. no ?

8 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’m sure there are many things that should be illegal, I suspect you would think of many more things than I, but that doesn’t answer my question.

 

The reason I ask is simply this, if it is not actually ‘illegal’ to cross the English Channel, then on what basis can the new ‘Commander’ intervene in anyone doing something that is not ‘illegal’.

 

 

Checking their passports.......if they aint got any turn em around....lol

 

UK isnt part of EU so it is illegal.

 

Would be the equivelant of crossing the mekong from thailand to laos. Probably not ilegel as long as you have paperwork.

Edited August 10, 20205 yr by stretch5163
error

2 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Like I said, you would have to build a wall in the channel then in order to not let anyone in in the first place. Once their boats are in UK waters, what the UK gonna do? 

Good Mouning,

 

call it wall if you like, (paid for by France or others)

or use high speed Coast Guard Patrol Boats for border/passport control

1 hour ago, Gillyflower said:

I would just like to say that I strongly object to the 'English' Channel.  It does not belong to England, just a small part of it.  So therefore, boats crossing the Channel are only illegal up  to a certain point.  That is when they get to English waters.

Thanks Gilly, whats your view on the Indian Ocean?

10 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

"There will be discussions this week to continue the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the fight against illegal crossings of the English Channel,” the spokesman said.

 

Out of curiosity, is it actually illegal to cross the English Channel?

 

 

 

 

once they are in britains territorial waters with the intention of illegally entering the uk,yes.