Channel crossings: Housing delays for migrants spark fears of ‘mob unrest’

After record numbers of channel crossings this year, Border Force union has warned they are being “overwhelmed”. On Friday, 336 illegal migrants arrived in 19 boats, marking a record high this year.

Lucy Moreton, professional officer for the ISU immigration union, said those who arrive in the country are expecting to be moved quickly to accommodation.

Ms Moreton added staff feel “increasingly threatened”, and warned they feel “there is a risk of unrest from these groups”.

Ms Moreton, speaking to The Telegraph, said immigrants “know they are going to be moved into accommodation” and added “they get cross about it” if it does not happen promptly.

READ MORE: Cross-Channel migrant numbers double in year

So far this year, the number of migrants that arrived in the UK is more than double that of 2020.

Last year saw a total of 8,713 migrants reach the UK, which was more than four times the number in 2019.

As of May 16, Migrant Watch UK holds a total of 3,107 people have crossed the British Channel since January.

The Home Office also announced that more than 500 migrants have crossed the Channel in the four days between Friday and Tuesday.

On Friday, 19 boats carrying 336 people were intercepted by UK authorities, while seven boats carried a further 144 migrants on Saturday.

One boat with 17 people onboard crossed the Channel on Sunday, and a further 71 people travelled in three boats on Monday.

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Home Office figures hold more than 3,600 people had been prevented from crossing the Channel by French authorities so far this year.

The Government department also said it will crack down on the criminal gangs who traffic migrants across the channel, saying they are “putting profits before people’s lives”.

Home Secretary Priti Patel intended to make the crossing “unviable” when overhaul plans for the asylum seeker system were published in March.

The plans would see illegal immigrants returned to safer places such as “France and other EU countries”, but many of these nations are understood to have refuted them.