Britain: ‘Unacceptable’ treatment of migrants arriving from the English Channel, according to official report

Britain’s treatment of migrants arriving in small boats from northern France has been unacceptable, ineffective and inadequate, an independent report released today said.

The number of people attempting the dangerous Channel crossing to enter Britain has risen sharply. The government faces criticism from some quarters that border controls are too weak, while others say asylum seekers are being treated inhumanely.

The report, by Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Neill, released today, focused on the initial processing of migrant applications at two government centers between December 2021 and January 2022.

“These migrants crossed the Channel in dire conditions. Many were vulnerable and at risk, including children and women alone, and when they arrived in Dover the way they were treated was unacceptable,” Neill said.

“This [συνέβη] because the Home Office has failed over the past three years to move from responding to a crisis to implementing better systems and processes.”

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said the ministry accepted the report’s recommendations. The spokesman said all related work has already been completed, including closing one of the centers and opening a new facility.

“We have changed how we handle the arrival of migrants,” the spokesman said.

In November 2021, 27 people died trying to cross the English Channel by rubber dinghy — the worst accident of its type ever recorded in the English Channel — sparking a blame game between Britain and France.

London has announced a new immigration policy by sending migrants to Rwanda to process their applications there, but has run into legal challenges.

The government’s response to pressure caused by a surge in migrant arrivals at Dover, on England’s south coast, exposed gaps in security procedures and put vulnerable migrants at risk, the report says.

The number of people arriving in small boats, many of them from Iran and Iraq, reached 28,526 last year compared to 8,486 in 2020 and just 286 in 2018.

Neill also criticized the recording style as “unnecessarily awful”.