The UK’s Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has revealed the first steps towards establishing a new Border Security Command within the country. The move is intended to reduce the number of small boat crossings in the English Channel, which rose significantly between 2018 and today. The government will begin by recruiting a new leader to head the body from Monday, with the expectation that a candidate will be agreed upon soon.
The UK authorities believe that the newly created command will have an immediate impact on the work done by intelligence agencies, police, Immigration Enforcement, and Border Force, respectively. The purpose is to create a comprehensive strategy to reduce small boat crossings, focusing particularly on tackling organised immigration crime.
Cooper stated that the UK does not wish to adopt the Conservative Party’s plan to send some arrivals to Rwanda, arguing that the scheme would not prevent illegal entry. Rather, the Border Security Command will address the root cause of the problem by targeting the criminal smuggling gangs “making millions out of small boat crossings, undermining our border security and putting lives at risk”.
Despite the plan being welcomed by some, others have expressed concerns. Kevin Saunders, a former chief immigration officer for Border Force, has warned that there could be significant problems with gangs and illegal activity in northern France if the Rwanda scheme is abandoned. Meanwhile, the issue of digital ID cards, as suggested by former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, has been disregarded by Cooper, who says it would not be her approach.
Despite the pressing need to reduce the number of small boat crossings in the English Channel, Cooper has avoided giving a specific timeline on when these numbers would begin to decrease, saying instead that she wants to make progress “as rapidly as possible”. The UK government also plans to commission an investigation into the methods used by people smuggling gangs and to audit details around the Rwanda scheme
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