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UK wants Channel migrant boats turned around as France told to ‘get a grip’

A Border Force vessel brings a group of people thought to be migrants into Dover, Kent, following a number of small boat incidents in The Channel.
A Border Force vessel brings a group of migrants into Dover on Sunday. (PA)

The government is working on plans to turn migrant boats around in the English Channel after a record number of crossings in recent days.

Home secretary Priti Patel has appointed a "clandestine Channel threat commander" whose job will be to make the English Channel "unviable for small boat crossings".

The man selected for the job is Dan O'Mahoney, a former Border Force official and marine who was deployed to Kosovo and Iraq.

O’Mahoney will reportedly work alongside French authorities to explore measures such as "adopting interceptions at sea and the direct return of boats", according to Sky News.

A Dover Pilot Harbour Patrol boat taking dingys out to sea.
A Dover Pilot Harbour Patrol boat taking migrant dinghies out to sea. (PA)

Patel said on Sunday: "The number of illegal small boat crossings is appalling.

"We are working to make this route unviable and arresting the criminals facilitating these crossings and making sure they are brought to justice."

It comes as Dover MP Natalie Elphicke called on France to “get a grip” and attempt to stop migrants from crossing before they reach the boats.

Read more: 'No sign of surveillance' as migrants flee France

“It’s time for a clear plan to put an end to these crossings. A plan that starts at the French coast. This cannot continue because the Channel is dangerous and lives have been lost,” she wrote in the Sunday Express.

“This is why the French must get a grip, step up patrols and take firm action against the trafficking gangs.

“They should act now to dismantle the camps, just as they dismantled the notorious Calais Jungle some years ago.”

More than 4,000 migrants have now reached the UK in 2020, by crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Families with young children have been among hundreds of people arriving in Dover in the last few days as the political row over the crisis has intensified.

While south-east England basked in roasting sunshine on Saturday, another 151 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the dangerous Dover Strait.

The Home Office has officially asked the Royal Navy for help and a former Royal Marine has been appointed "clandestine Channel threat commander".

More migrants have reached the UK on Sunday morning. Up to 12 people were seen being brought ashore in Dover aboard patrol boat Speedwell.