Migrant smugglers 'playing the system'

MIGRANT smugglers are exploiting Labour’s lax asylum rules to seek sanctuary after piloting small boats across the Channel, the Sunday Express can reveal.

- BY MICHAEL KNOWLES Home Affairs Editor

Fifty-four migrants who guided a dinghy to UK waters last summer went on to claim asylum, figures seen by this newspaper show.

This is because Labour binned a law banning small boat arrivals from claiming asylum, allowing those working with gangs to exploit the UK.

Home Office records, obtained via a freedom of information request, also revealed 17 of these claimed to be victims of modern slavery.

The Modern Slavery Act has become a key obstacle to the Home Office trying to deport failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals.

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Sunday Express: “In 2023 I introduced a law that banned anyone entering on a small boat from claiming asylum. Labour scrapped that and now smugglers can play the system. It’s a sick joke on the British people...

"Sir Keir brags about being a top prosecutor but prosecutions have fallen. They know they can get away with it. I resigned as immigration minister because we should be detaining and deport every one of them.”