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Over 550 migrants reach UK across Channel for every small boat pilot caught and jailed, figures show
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has promised to smash people-smuggling gangs
MORE than 550 migrants sneak into Britain across the Channel for every small boat pilot caught and jailed, figures show.
Less than 200 people smuggler thugs guiding small boats across the channel were locked up between the start of 2022 and mid-October – despite 104,000 migrants landing on the shores of Dover.
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Only 188 were nailed by Home Office Immigration Enforcement for guiding overcrowded rafts from Calais since the start of, and just four were jailed for their links to organised gangs.
It means one crook is convicted for every 552 migrants that enter the UK through Dover.
The numbers were revealed after a parliamentary question tabled by Northern Irish Peer Lord Reg Empey.
In response, Home Office minister Lord Hanson said: “From January 2022 to 23 October 2024, Home Office Immigration Enforcement convicted 188 individuals identified as small boat pilots, and four individuals for their involvement in organised crime gangs linked to small boat criminality.”
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It comes after more than 1,000 migrants made the crossing last week, including 237 on Friday.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has promised to smash people-smuggling gangs charging as much as £5,000 to asylum seekers for the dangerous crossing.
More than 50 have died during the trips this year alone.
Pilots already jailed this year include vile Choul Phan Maker – caged for only a year and eight months for steering a dinghy packed with 50 migrants.
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Maker, 31, was pictured with his hand on the tiller of the inflatable as he steered the overcrowded craft towards our shores last August.
Border Force officials intercepted the boat, with 52 people on board, and arrested him.
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He admitted unlawful arrival and assisting unlawful immigration.
Former Tory security minister Sir John Hayes said: “The last government failed to address this and this government is making it worse.
“At least the Conservative government was trying to provide the Rwanda scheme – which was a disincentive to cross the Channel
“But why wouldn’t they do so now? The figures suggest they are unlikely to be caught, and the connection with the European Convention of Human Rights means they’re not going to be deported.
“The government needs to take action immediately and implement exemplary sentences.
“News travels quickly in these circles, and if people knew they faced many years in prison for piloting boats, they’d be less inclined to do so.”
Last week PM Sir Keir Starmer praised the arrest of a suspected people-smuggling kingpin in Amsterdam.
The Turkish national, 44, was nicked on Wednesday on suspicion of storing cheap dinghies in Germany to be moved to France.
He faces extradition to Belgium for trial.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“Our new Border Security Command is working across policing, security and intelligence to pursue the evil criminal smuggling gangs making millions from these crossings.
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“Just last week, the National Crime Agency arrested one of the biggest suppliers of small boats.
“We will stop at nothing to go after these criminals, dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”
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