"Everyone has to act together to stop people smugglers

Day after day we see migrants seeking to leave France by small boats. Why are the authorities not stopping them?"

Express newspaper: 5th March 2024: Priti Patel asks why are the authorities not stopping the boats from France?

"March 2023 was a turning point in the UK-French relationship on the issue of illegal migration and small boats. The Government announced unprecedented measures to tackle the issue with France totalling £500million. Not an insignificant amount of taxpayers’ money for a package which we were told would stop the boats, consisting of a new detention centre, 500 more French policing personnel and more enhanced technology...

That package also supported migrants into appropriate and safe accommodation in France, informing and enabling them to access the asylum system there and taking them out of the hands of criminal gangs...

Day after day we see images from Calais of queues of migrants seeking to leave France through small boats....

Questions must now be asked as to what has changed and, importantly, what progress has been made...We need to know why the French authorities are not stopping them? Where are the detention facilities? And where are all the additional personnel?

...which is why the public should know whether UK taxpayers’ money is making a difference when it comes to breaking the smuggling gangs and saving lives by preventing these appalling crossings."

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