Over 6,000 Illegal Boat Migrants Have Landed in Britain This Year, as Another 181 Arrive on Good Friday

Kurt ZindulkaApril 17, 2022

Over six thousand illegal migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats since the start of the year, as hundreds more arrived during the recent spate of warm weather.

Following the Royal Navy taking over “operational command” over the growing migrant crisis this week, a further 181 illegal aliens were Brough ashore on Good Friday, ITV News reported.

This follows 651 migrants in 18 boats successfully reaching British shores on Wednesday — the highest number of the year — and an additional 562 being taken in by border officials on Thursday.

The latest crossings bring the total for the year to 6,011, according to figures compiled by the Press Association news agency. The government has been warned that should the record setting pace continue, up to 65,000 illegals could arrive via the Channel by the end of the year, more than double the previous record set last year of 28,526.

The increased flood of migrants into the country comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing widespread criticism and potential legal challenges from left-wing activists and institutions over his plan to ship illegal boat migrants to Rwanda to have their asylum applications assessed.

The plan will supposedly involve all adult migrant men who arrive in the country by illegally crossing the English Channel being flown to the East African nation in the hopes that it will serve as a deterrent for people trying to use the route to enter the UK. While the mainstream media in Britain typically focusses on women and children arriving in the small boats, 90 per cent of arrivals last year were men between the ages of 18 and 39-years-old.

‘Aint Gonna Work!’ UK Signs £120m Deal to House Illegal Boat Migrants in Rwanda in Latest Harebrained Schemehttps://t.co/Zba9Pb3fAu

— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 14, 2022

Though the plan to send migrants to Rwanda has sparked outrage among the left in Britain and internationally, Johnson’s scheme has also faced criticism from the right, with Brexit leader Nigel Farage declaring that it “aint gonna work,” predicting that any attempts to send migrants to Rwanda will be bogged down by legal challenges at the European Court of Human Rights, which despite leaving the European Union, the Mr Johnson’s government has so far failed to free itself from.

Mr Farage argued that while the Rwanda plan may offer a short-term deterrent, the only solution to solve the problem in the long-term will be to immediately send the boats back to the beaches of France.

Indeed, the prime minister’s plan has already seen left-wing activist lawyers, civil servants within his own government, and even the United Nations line up potential challenges to the scheme.

Gillian Triggs, of the UN’s refugee agency, claimed that flying illegal migrants to Rwanda would represent an “egregious breach of international law and refugee law and human rights law”.

While she admitted that such measures “can be effective,” Triggs said that her agency will be pressuring the UK government to opt for “more legally effective ways of achieving the same outcome.”

Mr Johnson, for his part, has acknowledged that his government will face significant pushback, but vowed to “do whatever it takes to deliver this new approach initially within the limits of the existing legal and constitutional frameworks,” and to make legal reforms if necessary.

“If this country is seen as a soft touch for illegal migration by some of our partners, it is precisely because we have such a formidable army of politically motivated lawyers who, for years, have made it their business to thwart removals and frustrate the Government,” Johnson said.