Just six inflatable 'small boats' slashed by French police to stop migrant crossings, admits minister as new deal announced

A minister repeatedly dodged setting a target to cut the number of “small boats” Channel crossings under a new deal with France .

Border security and asylum minister Alex Norris also admitted that so far French police had only used knives to slash inflatable vessels to stop crossings in six incidents.

He stressed these operations were dangerous as they could put migrants in danger and needed to be carried out safely.

As the number of Channel crossings has been rising in calmer weather , the Government was unveiling a new agreement with Paris to stop so many journey being made by migrants in a human trafficking trade run by “cynical criminals”.

More riot police will be deployed on French beaches but they will only be able to intervene in the water against boats with 20 or less people on board.

The criminal gangs behind the crossings are likely to pack the vessels as quickly as possible to stop police trying to disable their boats which are often overcrowded with 50 people.

Mr Norris, on the media round the Government, was repeatedly grilled about how the new deal would be judged to be a success after past attempts to cut the flow of crossings have largely failed.

Declining to set a target, Mr Norris told Times Radio: “The public have heard time after time big press release promises on numbers that were never met, and all that's created is cynicism.

“Our metric what we're doing, what our work is in service of here is creating and re-establishing order and control in our migration system.”
Under the new deal, riot police will be sent on to French beaches to try to stop migrants boarding “taxi-boats” which are run along the coast to pick them up before heading to the UK.

Earlier this month, two women and two men died after failing to board a “small boat” off Equihen beach in the Pas de Calais and were swept out to sea.

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A Sudanese man was charged over the deaths of the four people.

In some instances, French police have tried to stop migrants boarding inflatable vessels, which are often unseaworthy and dangerous, using tear gas at times.

But the French authorities have been criticised for not doing more to deter crossings, with only around a third of them being prevented.

They would be deployed to tackle violence and "hostile crowds" at the water's edge among a series of measures to stop migrants boarding boats.

Some of the funding will be dependent on cutting the numbers of arrivals, which include asylum seekers and economic migrants, for the first time since the start of the migrant crisis
The latest arrangements come after London and Paris previously failed to agree a new beach patrol deal in a bid to cut crossings.

Ms Mahmood was now backing a £2 million-a-week extension to the existing arrangement while a longer-term was thrashed out.

Under the arrangements, which will be in place until March 2029, Britain will hand over £501 million to cover five police units and enforcement activity on French beaches.

A further £160 million will only be paid if new tactics to curb Channel crossings succeed.

However, if efforts fail, the additional funding will stop after a year.

More drone and camera surveillance, as well as helicopter patrols, will be deployed.

The number of police, intelligence and military officers taking part in the operation will rise from 750 to nearly 1,100 as part of the deal due to come into force in the summer, typically the busiest time for Channel crossings.

The French will also step up action to tackle the so-called “taxi boats” where people smugglers try to avoid detection by sending one person sailing a dinghy along the coast alone to beaches where migrants scramble aboard in the water.

Ms Mahmood said: "This landmark deal will stop illegal migrants making the perilous journey and put people smugglers behind bars."
So far this year, more than 6,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after making the journey, down 36% on the number this time last year.”
He said: "The Government's deal hands over half a billion pounds of our money with no conditions at all.

"France only prevented a third of embarkations last year and even let those illegal immigrants go to try again.

France shouldn't get a single penny unless they stop the vast majority of the boats."
Imran Hussain, from the Refugee Council, said: "By focusing on policing the Channel, the Government is treating the symptom not the cause.

Policing alone will not prevent desperate people from turning to dangerous small boats in the first place."
Refugee charity Care4Calais said Anglo-French beach deals make crossings more dangerous and lead to more deaths in the Channel.