THE Government seems to be unable to stop smuggling gangs sending people across the Channel in small boats, according to the chairman of MigrationWatch UK.
Alp Mehmet told GB News: “It’s tragic, the loss of one human life is tragic. But really, this is something that is always going to happen for as long as the boats keep coming.
“It’s imperative the Government does everything possible to make sure that they stop.
“For so long as people think that having arrived in this way they can get to stay, I’m afraid that they will continue to come. It’s got to stop.”
Speaking to Bev Turner, he said: “There’s plenty of work going on with our agencies working with the French, working with other countries as well in cracking down on them, but there’s only so much you can do if there are literally thousands who are engaged in this business.
“What Rishi Sunak announced yesterday, I think everyone should say great, we welcome it. But it’s only a start, and I would have liked to have heard a lot of what he said yesterday four years ago, frankly, when this whole boat business started.
“It has been going on for a long time. They were coming in the backs of lorries when I was an immigration officer 50 years ago, so it’s nothing new.
“What is different, though, are the numbers that are now coming across and for as long as it proves successful, notwithstanding what’s happened today, I’m afraid people will still be prepared to pay money to traffickers to get them over here.
“And while that is going on, the traffickers won’t hold back.”
Asked about claims that Government policies make the crossing dangerous, he told GB News: “I think that’s nonsense.
“It’s also a wicked thing to say, frankly.”
