Fury as British vessel has to rescue migrants from French waters

A BORDER Force vessel was left to rescue migrants after its French counterpart failed to act in its own waters, it has emerged.

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A dinghy, carrying dozens of people, broke down “half a mile to a mile” inside French waters on Tuesday, a witness claimed.

But the French warship shadowing the dinghy did not intervene, despite fears some of those on board were signalling they were in distress.

The incident was branded a “scandal” and prompted warnings that the boats crisis will never be stopped.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Daily Express: “British vessels should not be picking up illegal immigrants in French waters - this is for the French to do.

“This is a scandal. The French should be taking them back to France.

“If they don’t do this, upon arrival in the UK the illegal immigrants should be rapidly removed to somewhere like Rwanda.

“They would then pretty soon stop coming in the first place.”

French rescue vessels are supposed to take migrants in distress back to the shore under an agreement between Britain and France.

But a Border Force vessel “moved into French waters” and rescued the migrants, before continuing to collect more people attempting to cross on Tuesday morning.

A witness condemned the farce, declaring: “We have given them £490million to stop boats and they seem to be as happy as ever.

“The UK Border Force vessel moved into French waters as the dinghy had slowed up. I think the tubes were deflating. They were getting slower and slower and came to a stop half a mile to a mile from the border.

“Some of those on board signalled they were in distress. The French should have picked them up. They have broken their protocols.

“Once [Border Force] picked up those people, they hung around and another French vessel stated they had another migrant boat and they motored further into French waters.

“It’s encouraging for the migrants when they can see the Border Force vessels waiting. Now they are getting into trouble and know they are still going to get picked up.