It takes much effort, and rightly so, to be able to not just visit a country, but especially to put down roots and ultimately make a new life there. And millions the world over go through the proper channels to do just that.
However, right now, an astonishing number of people are crossing the English Channel from France in small boats every single day.
They have no documents or identification, and because of certain laws, we have no choice but to take them in.
According to the BBC, in 2021, 28,000 people crossed over. Illegally.
This year so far, the number is pushing 30,000, with 8,644 in August alone.
According to Border Force officials and widely reported in the press, it may well hit 60,000 by the end of the year.
This is not a column against immigration. I am all for it. Britain is a country of immigrants. What I am against is uncontrolled, illegal immigration.
I passionately believe that every genuine person has a right to escape persecution or war and seek asylum. However, I also passionately believe that it’s perfectly reasonable to be concerned about illegal immigration.
We do, and always will, accept genuine refugees, but it must be done properly, via a border crossing, showing a document if at all possible.
People trying to enter the UK illegally is nothing new of course, but it has spiralled.
These days, it’s often run by gangs of human traffickers. They even advertise and promote their “business” on social media. And they make a fortune out of it, with precious little care for those who make the crossings.
Watch the video clips online. The French do what they can to try to stop them, but it’s an impossible task.
Mostly young men, pile on to boats and make a dangerous journey across a busy shipping lane. And once they make it to UK waters, we pick them up, help them to safety and bring them to our shores. We put them up in hotels, give them access to food and doctors and dentists.
The pressure this uncontrolled illegal immigration puts on our UK public services is massive.
It’s been reported that round 40% of recent arrivals are from Albania. I’ve spent much time in Albania, and I can tell you, Communist dictator Enver Hoxha is long dead.
Albania is now in NATO. It is also aiming to join the EU. There is no war or mass political oppression in Albania. It’s a safe country. It may well be poor compared to the UK, but it is safe.
These Albanians are not bedraggled and starving, they are mostly young men, wearing designer jeans, with cool western haircuts and smartphones – but of course no passport or documentation. The traffickers have already told them to throw away all identification.
They are also told by the traffickers the right words to say about how they are “persecuted” back home. These traffickers know the game and play it to great effect.
The adverts for this sick business brag about how easy is it to get into the UK and bag yourself a better life. If you survive the trip that is – tragically, dozens have already drowned.
I’ve been in refugee camps close to the Syrian border, inside Gaza and Iraqi Kurdistan and seen firsthand what genuine refugees are like. What we are seeing in the English Channel on these boats is something else altogether. It’s a business for economic migrants.
I’d welcome any person who legally applies to come here to work and pay taxes. But a seemingly open door or open sea policy?
I understand that even if people are mere economic migrants, they simply want to better their lives, but can we – should we – take everyone?
It’s been pointed out to me numerous times by police and border guards in many EU countries that if these people were genuinely fleeing war, why don’t they claim asylum in any of the numerous safe countries en route?
If I were fleeing a despotic regime and made it to Europe, I’d be kissing the very ground of the first safe country I landed in. It is not a necessity for anyone to then travel to northern France and jump on a dinghy.
Ultimately I blame the traffickers. If they didn’t blatantly advertise this and encourage it, I doubt we’d see what we are seeing. We never used to see anything like these numbers.
I also blame the UK authorities. We have done nowhere near enough to discourage such crossings. In France, for example, you have to be resident for six months before you get health benefits. Not so in the UK. We need to stop blaming the French and start looking at ourselves.
I will never forget what a Syrian refugee told me in southern Turkey a few years back. I asked him if he would make the perilous journey across sea towards western countries.
No, he said, he would not risk his family’s life. He was safe in Turkey, he told me. And he was a legitimate refugee fleeing war.
Also, and deeply worrying, with no documents, no identification – as they have all thrown them away in advance – we literally have no idea who we are allowing into our country.
60,000 people by year end on these small boats – and we don’t know who they are.
I can’t think of any of the 80-plus countries I’ve been to that would allow me to enter illegally then stay there. There is a fit and proper way to enter a country, but what we are seeing in the English Channel is not fit and proper.
Let me give you the other side of the coin and explain how difficult it is if you try to enter the UK legally and pay for the privilege.
My partner Lina is in Moscow. She had to leave the UK in June as her visa ran out – she’s been in Russia ever since, trying to get another two-year visa. Even if she gets it, she is not entitled to work here, or receive any state benefits. Fine, not a problem there, but come across illegally on a boat and you are “rewarded”.
The next step is to get Lina what’s known as a family visa, that will allow her to eventually live and work here. You couldn’t imagine the hoops we have to jump through in order to get that visa.
The cost is a few thousand pounds, and we have to pay a health surcharge of almost a thousand. I get it, and agree. It’s the National Health Service, not the International Health Service.
In a nutshell, if you do the right thing and try to enter the UK legally, it’s a bureaucratic nightmare. Do it illegally, no problem, in you come and we’ll give you a place to stay and access to a doctor.
As of writing this column, Lina is still in Moscow. It has taken months, and still no sign of that all-important stamp in her passport. Meanwhile, I wonder how many will cross the English Channel today. If it’s good weather, possibly up to 1,000. And they will be taken in and looked after.
In Budapest, a few years back when Angela Merkel made it easier for people to enter the EU, I witnessed hundreds of young men camped outside Budapest train station. But they didn’t want to claim “asylum” in Hungary. Instead, many paid hundreds of euros in order to get on a train to Germany.
People fleeing war in Ukraine are genuine and I welcome them, but many thousands are not genuine and are not fleeing persecution.
For too long we have buried our heads in the sand when it comes to illegal immigration. Often over fear of being labelled racist. Is it not time we had a serious grown-up debate on borders and illegal immigration without resulting to cries of racism?
While I have much criticism of governments of all persuasions for many years when it comes to illegal immigration, it’s actually not entirely their fault. It doesn’t matter how determined any sitting home secretary is, their hands are tied.
Should we stop these boat crossings?
Should we turn away anyone who enters the UK illegally?
Actually, it’s very difficult to do so while we are signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights.
Next week – Is it time to come out of the ECHR?
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