New border security chief to be appointed within weeks, No 10 says
The scale of the task was illustrated as the number of migrants to have crossed the English Channel in 2024 neared 22,000.
The head of the Government’s new Border Security Command will be named within weeks, Downing Street said as the latest figures showed 257 migrants crossed the English Channel on Wednesday.
Officials insisted the Government was taking action, including boosting National Crime Agency (NCA) resources devoted to the problem, as the number of people making the journey in small boats reached almost 22,000 so far this year.
The Home Office promised a “rapid” recruitment process for the border security commander within days of Labour’s election win in July, but two months on there has been no announcement.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “One of the first things that the Government did was to launch the recruitment campaign for the border security commander.
“We obviously want to have the most skilled person possible in the role.
“The process has been thorough, and we expect to provide an update on that in the coming weeks.”
The spokesman added: “In the meantime, we’ve already put an extra 100 officers into the National Crime Agency to work with partners across Europe, on top of the 50% uplift in NCA officers stationed at Europol.”
No 10 dismissed a suggestion from France’s interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, that migrants were risking the English Channel crossing because they could often work without papers and were “rarely expelled”.
Asked whether the UK’s labour market was a pull factor, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “No, and let’s be clear, the people responsible for this vile trade are the smuggling gangs who make profit and take advantage of vulnerable people and vulnerable situations.
“And that is why this Government is so focused on dismantling their criminal operations and preventing these dangerous journeys taking place.”
Home Office figures showed five boats arrived on Wednesday, which suggests an average of around 51 people per boat.
The arrivals came a day after a boat sank off the coast of France, claiming the lives of 12 migrants including a pregnant woman and six children.
The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 21,977.
This is 3% higher than at this point last year, when the total stood at 21,372, but 20% lower than at this stage in 2022, when the total was 27,409.
There have been 2,683 arrivals in the past nine days, from August 27 to September 4 inclusive – the highest in any nine-day period so far this year.
There were 29,437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 in 2022.
More than 30 people have now died in Channel crossings so far this year, compared with 12 who are thought to have died or were recorded as missing in 2023, according to the French coastguard.
