UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to work with European nations to get a “grip on this challenge of illegal migration" as pressure built to sign a new deal with France to curb Channel crossings.
On the fringes of Cop27, Mr Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the continuing challenge of illegal migration, stressing the urgency of cracking down on criminal smuggling gangs.
The pair embraced at the UN climate change conference in Egypt on Monday, during their first encounter since Mr Sunak entered No 10 Downing Street.
“They committed to continue working together with partners to address the issues in the Channel," said Mr Sunak's spokesman.
He also discussed the subject with new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“It was great to meet President Macron to talk about not just tackling illegal migration, but the range of other areas in which we want to co-operate closely with the French on," Mr Sunak said.
“But also let’s remember, this is an issue that affects many countries. And actually, I’ve been talking to other European leaders as well about our shared challenge of tackling illegal migration.
Migrants at immigration processing centre in Manston - in pictures
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A person gestures through a fence at the immigration processing centre in Manston, Kent in southern England. Reuters -
Security staff work to cover the view of people thought to be migrants in the Manston centre. PA -
An aerial view of the facility in Manston. PA -
Seven hundred people were moved to the centre for safety reasons after incendiary devices were thrown at a Border Force migrant centre in Dover on Sunday. Reuters -
A man holds up a baby in the immigration processing centre. Reuters -
A woman at the Manston centre. Reuters -
A tent inside the processing centre. Reuters -
The entrance to the Manston immigration holding facility. AP
“And I think there is an opportunity for us to work closely, not just with the French but with other countries as well.
“By working together with our European partners, we can make a difference, grip this challenge of illegal migration and stop people coming illegally …
“I’m actually leaving this with renewed confidence and optimism that working together with our European partners, we can make a difference, grip this challenge of illegal migration and stop people coming illegally.”
Almost 40,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year.
There were no crossings in the first six days of November during bad weather, leaving the provisional total for 2022 to date still standing at 39,913.
Migrant crossings on the English Channel surge amid heatwave - in pictures
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The number of migrants crossing the English Channel from northern Europe has reached record-breaking figures as people in Britain are experiencing an exceptionally hot summer. PA -
A lady carries a toddler to a bus after a group of people thought to be migrants were brought in to Dover, Kent, on the south-east English coast. PA -
A group of migrants are brought in to Ramsgate, Kent, on August 1 - the day on which almost 700 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in a single day, a record for the year so far. PA -
It was only the second time in 2022 that the daily figure has topped 600. PA -
A woman carries a newborn baby in a life cradle as she is brought in to Dover on a Border Force vessel in July. PA -
About 3,683 migrants made the crossing on 90 boats in July, the highest monthly total this year. PA -
A warehouse in Dover for boats used by people trying to cross the Channel. PA -
Migrants hold up an inflatable boat before attempting to cross the Channel to Britain, near the northern French city of Gravelines, in July. AFP -
A police officer stands guard on the beach at Dungeness, England, as migrants get off a lifeboat after they were picked up at sea in June. AFP -
A group of people thought to be migrants walk up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness in May. AP -
Migrants on the beach at Dungeness, after crossing the English Channel in an inflatable dinghy in January. Reuters
Mr Sunak said Channel crossings were a “complex issue” he was “determined to grip”.
But he said there was “not one simple solution that’s going to solve it overnight”.
“We all want this situation to resolve itself as quickly as possible,” Mr Sunak said.
He reportedly wants to agree on targets for stopping boats, and a minimum number of French officers patrolling beaches, while also hoping to be able to post Border Force officers in France.
Downing Street said talks on a deal with France were in their “final stages” after the meeting between the two leaders.
Migrant children rescued in French waters - in pictures
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Migrants are rescued by crew members of the 'Abeille Languedoc' ship after their boat's generator broke down in French waters as they were trying to cross the Channel illegally to Britain. All photos: AFP -
Migrants wait for help in the Channel. -
A child is rescued by crew members of the 'Abeille Languedoc'. -
The 'Abeille Languedoc' is an ocean-going tug specialising in the rescue of vessels in distress. -
Migrant children on the rescue boat. -
The 'Abeille Languedoc' has been moored in Cherbourg for 26 years, monitoring the Channel between the Cotentin and the Pas-de-Calais. -
Migrants sit on board the 'Abeille Languedoc' after being rescued. -
A rescuer carries a child as they disembark from the 'Abeille Languedoc'.
Talks on the specifics of a deal were taking place separately involving Home Office officials, Mr Sunak’s spokesman said.
Meanwhile, British Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said good-quality hotels could act as a “pull factor” for people thinking of crossing the Channel.
Mr Jenrick told MPs he wants to end the use of hotels to house migrants and the government may need to use “some larger sites to provide decent but basic accommodation” as an alternative.
His remarks came as several Conservative MPs criticised the use of hotels in their constituencies, with reports suggesting a “luxury rural hotel” normally charging £400 ($461) a night was among the sites being used.
Afghan migrant documents dangerous journey across Channel - video
But concerns were also raised about poor-quality sites, with Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy saying families are living in “cramped conditions” and “given food so bad it makes them sick”.
The government said it spent £6.8 million a day housing migrants in hotels, with extra demand created by almost 40,000 people arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year.
“These are dire, they are not secure, they’re not safe and they’re certainly not suitable for vulnerable children," Ms Ribeiro-Addy said of hotels in her area.
"So will the minister admit that the Home Office has received a number of complaints about this and agree to reviewing and assessing the conditions in these hotels?”
Mr Jenrick said he would look at specific allegations, saying he has been “reassured” by visits to hotels that they meet the right standard, before noting it is “not appropriate that we are putting up asylum seekers in luxurious hotels”.
“Decency is important and will be a watchword for us," he told the House of Commons.
"But deterrence has to be suffused through our approach as well because we do not want to create a further pull factor for individuals to make this perilous crossing across the Channel, and we have to make the UK significantly less attractive to illegal immigration than our EU neighbours.”
Conservative former minister Maggie Throup earlier said 400 asylum seekers were housed in two hotels in her constituency of Erewash, Derbyshire.
Ms Throup said the location was “wholly unsuitable” with “no basic amenities near by” or extra resources for local services.
What's happening at Manston? - video
Mr Jenrick replied: “The hotels are not a sustainable answe. "We want to ensure we exit the hotels as quickly as possible and to do that we will need to disperse individuals to other forms of accommodation.
“We may need to take some larger sites to provide decent but basic accommodation and, of course, we will need to get through the backlog so that we can get more people out of the system, either by returning them to their home country or granting them asylum so they can begin to make a contribution to the UK.”
Conservative MP Lee Anderson said: “When I hear words like sourcing housing and getting extra hotel spaces for illegal immigrants, it leaves a bitter taste in my throat.
“And I’ll tell you what, I’ve got 5,000 people in Ashfield who want to secure council housing and they cannot get one.
"Yet we’re here debating this nonsense once again. When are we going to stop blaming the French, the ECHR [European Convention on Human Rights], the lefty lawyers?
“The blame lies in this place right now. When are we going to go back and do the right thing and send them straight back the same day?”
Inside one of France's migrant camps - video
Mr Jenrick replied: “In sourcing accommodation for migrants, we should be guided by both our common desire for decency because those are our values, but also hard-headed common sense.
"And it is not right that migrants are put up in three or four-star hotels at exorbitant cost to the United Kingdom taxpayer.”
Conservative MP Selaine Saxby sought assurances that hotels in her North Devon constituency would be “welcoming visitors for next spring’s vital tourism season”.
“I certainly hope that that is the case,” Mr Jenrick replied.
Conservative Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) said the “easier you make this whole process and the quicker, the more people will come”.
“There were recent reports that illegal migrants had been put up in a luxury rural hotel, a former stately home near Grantham which normally charges £400 a night.
"Surely the easier you make this whole process and the quicker, the more people will come, especially as this is a complete pushover with a large number of young Albanian men claiming modern slavery, which is ridiculous.
“Isn’t the solution, and will the minister confirm this, to repeal the Human Rights Act, get out of the European Refugee Convention, repeal the Modern Slavery Act so people can be detained when they arrive for being involved in an illegal activity and then deported?”
Mr Jenrick replied: “That’s not the kind of hotel we want to see individuals being accommodated in. We want to see decent, but common-sensical treatment, that doesn’t create a further pull factor to the UK.
“The home secretary and I are going to review whether further changes are required and we start from the basic principle that treaties that the UK government has entered into must work in the best interests of the British people.”
