Border Security Command ‘gearing up’ as small boat crossings of Channel exceed 19,000 – The Irish News

Yvette Cooper has indicated she will push ahead with the previous government’s plan to reopen two immigration detention centres in a bid to achieve the highest deportation rate since Theresa May became prime minister.

The Home Secretary announced that Border Security Command is “preparing” after the number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats this year exceeded 19,000.

As well as the new beds at the immigration deportation centres near Oxford and Portsmouth, Ms Cooper will also outline plans to increase the staffing of the National Crime Agency (NCA), which operates across the UK and has around 70 active investigations into people smuggling and trafficking rings.

Conservative shadow home secretary James Cleverly accused new ministers of failing to “get a handle” on cross-Channel migration between France and England’s south coast this weekend.

A Labour source called Cleverly’s comments “laughable” and said their party was “replacing the Tory gimmick with real traction”.

Ms Cooper said: “Our new Border Security Command is already in full swing, with new staff being urgently recruited and additional personnel already stationed across Europe.”

The unit is designed to bring together the work of various intelligence agencies, police, immigration services and border control.

Ms Cooper said new officials “will work with European enforcement agencies to find every possible way to defeat the criminal smuggling gangs who organise dangerous boat journeys that undermine our border security and put lives at risk”.

The Home Secretary also said: “By increasing enforcement capacity and reporting, we will create a system that is better monitored and managed, rather than the chaos that has plagued the system for far too long.”

The Labour government has pledged to create an extra 290 immigration deportation beds at Campsfield House in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire – centres that previously closed in 2019 and 2015.

Documents submitted to Cherwell District Council during the Conservative government, which ended in July, proposed reopening Campsfield House with an increased capacity from 160 to 400 inmates, while Gosport Council gave the green light for demolition work at Haslar ahead of refurbishment earlier this year.

Staff would be redeployed to increase revenues.

According to the Interior Ministry, ministers have set a target of achieving “the highest rate of deportations of people who should not be here, including rejected asylum seekers” since 2018 over the next six months.

According to figures released by Labour ministers in July, the previous Conservative government spent around £700m on its flagship Rwanda plan before a general election earlier this year.

The program, which was set out in a treaty between London and Kigali, was intended as a deterrent and was intended to remove some of the people who had come to East Africa by small boat.

Only four volunteers arrived in Rwanda and Sir Keir Starmer declared the plan “dead and buried” within two days of becoming prime minister.

The Home Office also pledged to crack down on companies using intelligence agencies, as part of a package to tackle companies that employ people who do not have the right to work in the UK.

Up to 100 new specialists could be deployed to approximately 70 NCA investigations into smuggling and human trafficking networks.

Rob Jones, NCA Director of Operations, said: “Tackling organised immigration crime remains a top priority for the NCA and we are devoting more effort and resources to it than ever before.

“These additional officers will play a key role in this. The NCA is currently leading around 70 investigations into the people smuggling and trafficking groups that are causing the greatest harm.

“Tackling these dangerous and exploitative gangs requires international cooperation and we continue to strengthen our already strong relationship with Europol and other law enforcement partners.

“We are determined to do everything we can to disrupt and dismantle these networks, whether they operate in the UK or abroad.”

Figures from the Home Office show that 206 migrants crossed the Channel in three boats on Monday, bringing the provisional total for crossings in 2024 to 19,294.

This is a 10% increase from last year’s figure of 17,620.

But the latest figure is 10% lower than in 2022, when 21,344 border crossings were recorded in the same period.

“This new government must take urgent action to bring the ever-increasing numbers of crossings under control,” Mr Cleverly said last weekend.

“When Labour abandoned our deterrent (the Rwanda plan) they sent a dangerous message to people smugglers that they were not prepared to take the tough measures needed to control our borders, and the smugglers are now reaping the rewards.”

A Labour source said: “For the former Home Secretary to urge us to ‘take charge’, given the chaotic legacy they left behind, is laughable.

“He oversaw waste and failure on a massive scale, not to mention record numbers of crossings in the first six months of the year.

“We are replacing the Tory gimmick with real control and a serious plan to resolve the chaos.”

Steve Smith, director of Care4Calais, said: “The new government continues to invest in border security rather than workable solutions, repeating the mistakes of the previous government.

“The evidence shows that these so-called deterrents do not work. They do nothing to reduce the number of Channel crossings, they simply force people to take greater risks to do so.

“The only way to stop crossings and save lives is to create safe routes for people to claim asylum in the UK. That is what the new government should be focusing on.”

James Wilson, director of Detention Action, said: “The government’s proposal to detain even more people in the UK is a disappointing step towards a fairer and more humane immigration system.

“Especially after recent events, it is crucial that government policies and language recognise the dignity and humanity of migrants.

“Immigration detention centers are hidden spaces where people are locked in small cells for up to 12 hours a day and often denied legal representation or appropriate medical care. The use of immigration detention is inherently harmful to people’s mental health, particularly because people are held without a fixed time limit.”

He continued: “Immigration detention is also a fundamentally inefficient way of resolving people’s immigration cases. From 2023 to 2024, 60% of people leaving detention were released on immigration bail or allowed to remain in the UK.

“Given the immense cost of immigration detention to both the welfare of detainees and the public purse, we urge the government to reconsider its proposal.”