Over 150 illegal migrants detained in Dover after crossing the Channel, while Home Secretary Suella Braverman inspects Rwanda deportation centre.
The Home Office has confirmed that 155 illegal migrants were detained, and four dinghies were intercepted. This is the latest group to arrive in the UK since the Government unveiled its controversial Illegal Migration Bill earlier this month.
The total figure for 2023 now stands at 3,562 in 83 boats as the Home Secretary tries to bring illegal crossings under control.
The Illegal Migration Bill is set to introduce tough new measures that will see any asylum seeker arriving illegally on small boats indefinitely banned from re-entering the country.
It is also expected to further prevent migrants from using human rights laws to avoid removal from Britain. Ms Braverman, who announced the new laws on March 7, stated that “the only route to the UK will be a safe and legal route.”
Ms Braverman also inspected a potential deportation centre in Rwanda on Saturday. The UK agreed to the deal 11 months ago, which would see people who claimed asylum in Britain deported to Rwanda to have their application processed, and if successful, reside there permanently.
Ms Braverman visited the Bwiza Riverside Estate on the outskirts of the capital Kigali, where she was given a tour of the housing. She also visited a street fair celebrating Commonwealth Day, where she visited stalls displaying food from Commonwealth countries India, Mozambique, and the UK.
The Home Secretary attended a street fair and also mucked in at a Rwandan building site that could become the homes for failed UK migrants.
She laid a brick at a new housing block on the outskirts of the city which could become home to migrants sent from the UK. The 528-home estate, in Gahanga, will have volleyball and basketball courts alongside one, two, and three-bedroom properties.
The number of people crossing the Channel in small boats could potentially reach up to 80,000 this year, according to officials.
Last year, 45,728 people made the journey across the 21-mile Dover Straits in 1,104 boats, compared to 28,526 in 2021. On August 22 last year, 1,295 migrants crossed the Channel in rubber dinghies or other small craft in a 24-hour period.
»UK detains 155 illegal migrants crossing Channel, as Home Secretary inspects deportation centre in Rwanda«