Record number of Channel migrants reaching the UK as crossings ‘fuelled by Rwanda delays’

The number of Channel migrants reaching the UK hit a new record over the Bank Holiday weekend, amid claims that delays in plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda has fuelled the crossings.

The arrival of more than 580 migrants in small boats over Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday took the total this year past 7,000 – treble last year's rate for the same period of time.

It followed 11 days of bad weather that had prevented any migrants crossing the Channel, prompting speculation – dismissed by government sources – that the Rwanda plan was already deterring migrants.

But on Monday night, France claimed the policy had created a window of opportunity that people-smugglers were exploiting. Pierre-Henri Dumont, the Calais MP, said there was evidence that criminals were encouraging migrants to attempt the crossing before the measures take effect.

"From what I heard from the migrants, it seems that the news of the new legislation in the UK with Rwanda gives the smugglers the availability of new commercial arguments [to] the migrants to urge them to cross quickly for them not to be sent away because of this new legislation," he said.

Tory MPs and Border Force officials also admitted it could "get worse before it got better", as they warned that the Rwanda policy would only be effective as a deterrent once flights started and migrants realised they would be sent 4,000 miles to claim asylum in the African state.

Tony Smith, a former director-general of the Border Force, said: "If you can show people will fly from Manston [the Kent RAF base where they will be held] directly to Rwanda, that will hit the smuggling gangs and that will hit the migrants. At the moment, it seems a bit of a game of bluff. No one has been sent to Rwanda yet."

Boris Johnson was said to have wanted the first flights of migrants on a one-way ticket to Rwanda to leave at the end of this month. However, government sources admitted on Monday night that they were likely to be delayed by legal challenges being mounted by three different groups.

One senior source said: "We will fight the legal claims, but it will take time to do so. We hope to do it [the flights] as soon as possible. Everyone is pushing as hard as they can to get it ready, but we have said that it's not going to be quick. We want to make sure it is done properly and right."

But Tories urged the Government to press ahead with the flights regardless. 

Tim Loughton, a former minister and a member of the Commons home affairs committee, said: "What is absolutely essential is that, in the next few weeks and months, there are high profile images of planeloads of people going to Rwanda.

"They need to know that if they pay £3,000 or £4,000 to a people-smuggler to risk their lives crossing the Channel, it is now going to be a lottery whether they end up in a hotel in Kent or on a plane to Rwanda, where you are going to have a different existence."

Mr Loughton urged Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, to press ahead with the flights, rather than waiting for the legal challenge. He said: "What she needs to do is just do it, get challenged then see what needs to be done, if there is a legitimate case coming to court."

He was backed by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, who said the Government needed to face down the lawyers. "All they need to do is get on with it. All they are doing is within the existing rules, and within the current legislation," he said.

The Home Office is understood to have told lawyers challenging the policy that there will be no removals to Rwanda before May 10, when it has to respond to a pre-action letter from the charities Care4Calais, Detention Action and the Public and Commercial Services union.

The groups claim the policy breaches the refugee convention and human rights laws. Instalaw, a firm representing two asylum seekers who entered the UK this year, has issued judicial review proceedings that the Government cannot agree an international deal without first seeking the approval of Parliament.

The charity Freedom from Torture has also issued a pre-action letter, claiming the Government failed to properly consult over the plan and demanding that ministers publish their policy documents.

Migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel are given a notice of intent that their asylum claim is inadmissible before those identified for Rwanda flights will get five days notice of their removal.

Care4Calais said on Monday that of the 64 migrants it surveyed in France, 87 per cent had heard of the Rwanda plan and 75 per cent said it "won't put them off crossing to the UK".

Although most said they would continue, one charity volunteer said some had now left and abandoned hopes of crossing because of fears of being sent to Rwanda.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the Government's "draconian" policies were "doing little to deter desperate people jumping on boats because they do nothing to address the reasons people come."

"The government’s approach is destined to fail and will only cause more pain and suffering and at a huge cost to the public purse," he said.

"As the warm weather continues we need to immediately start having a grown up conversation with France and the EU about sharing responsibility. We need a fair and humane asylum system, with means well thought-out, long-term solutions that address why people are forced from their homes and provides them with safe routes to the UK.”

A Government spokesman said: "The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable. Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they risk lives and hinder our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes.

 “Last week, the Nationality and Borders Act completed its passage through Parliament. Through this legislation, the Government is cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introducing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for those who facilitate illegal entry into our country.”