The former Immigration Minister has revealed that some asylum seekers who arrive in the UK by small boats are being monitored daily by the security services due to the risk they pose to British citizens.
Robert Jenrick said the country needs to view immigration as a national security emergency and warned we know ‘little, if anything about these people who are breaking into our country on small boats.’
Speaking on GB News, Robert Jenrick said:
“I've been making the argument that we are in an age of mass migration, and that all developed countries like the UK, Europe and the United States, are going to be facing a generational issue of millions of people on the move, looking to come primarily for economic prospects, and that we need to take the most robust action possible.
“That's why it's very important that we learn from what other countries are doing and experiencing and the United States is in the midst of a migration crisis. I think that's what can happen here in the UK if we don't go further and faster."
Speaking during a visit he's made to the US he continued: "I wanted to see for myself what is happening down on the US southern border. Last year, over 3 million illegal migrants crossed that border over 300,000 in the month of December alone, so it's a very serious situation.
“But there are some politicians who are taking that robust action and the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott, a Republican, is one of those who's trying to battle with this issue. I wanted to see some of the work that he and others have been doing there and what we might be able to learn from it back home in the UK.
“One of the things I saw, which I’ve strongly supported in the past, is the use of physical infrastructure, like buoys that can blockade rivers like the Rio Grande.
“I implemented those as immigration minister on the canals and on the estuaries of Northern France.
“I think that is something that we should take up now on a much bigger scale with the French putting them in the shallow waters off the beaches of Northern France to stop the boats in a humane way from ever getting into the English Channel.
“The other thing I was very struck by here in the United States, particularly from the Republicans who are seized with this issue is the fact that they, like me, treat this as a national security issue.
“They are very concerned about the number of criminals, those linked to the narcotics trade, serious organized crime and even extremists and terrorists, people coming from countries that are hostile to us and to Western values crossing the border.
“That is something that I saw as immigration minister, and I want the UK to treat this as a national security emergency. Border Security is national security.
“As Immigration Minister, I worked with the northern French authorities to create buoy blockades on canals and estuaries that were being used for what's known as taxi boats, where the people smugglers get people off the shore, gather together groups and then get quickly out into the open sea.
“That was extremely effective and it was one of the most effective interventions we made last year and contributed to the 30% reduction in small boat arrivals in the UK. We need to go much further.
“I think there is appetite for that from our interlocutors in France; they can see it works so let's get those blockades on more of those estuaries and let's get them into the shallow waters just off the key beaches. Not in the open dangerous waters, but in the shallow waters so that people can quickly see that they're not going to be able to get the boats into the English Channel.
“I think that would make a big difference and could be done quickly, most importantly, because time is absolutely of the essence.
“I really do think that we have to view this as a national security emergency because we know little, if anything, about these people who are breaking into our country on small boats.
“What we've learned is that there is a very significant link between some of them, and serious organized crime. If you look at the Albanians who are coming across, a very strong link, for example, with the drug trade in the UK.
“I can tell you that some of the issues are even more serious than that, and that there are individuals who come across on small boats who are being monitored by our security services every day because they're deemed to be a risk to our security and would actually do real harm to British citizens.
“That is why we've got to take this seriously. That's why I've always advocated for the policy of Rwanda where we actually detain people as soon as they arrive and get them out of the country within days.
“As you know, I'm sceptical about the way in which the government is proceeding with that, but I think it is important that everyone understands what's at stake here, particularly if you think of those members of the House of Lords who are debating in the weeks ahead.
"I think this is actually the most humane thing to do. I've always believed that stopping the boats, even if you're taking very robust steps, is the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective, because people are dying in the English Channel.
“If you want to stop this, you've got to really take the hardest possible approach because that is the most humane way to tackle this.”
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