Border Force staff regularly fail to check cars with tinted windows, shock report reveals
An independent inspector said employees were being run ragged at ports across the south-coast by migrants armed with 'better intel'
OVER-STRETCHED Border Force staff cannot stop illegal migrants sneaking into Britain – a staggering report reveals.
An independent inspector said employees were being run ragged at ports across the south-coast by migrants armed with “better intel” than those out to stop them.
In findings that shame the Home Office, the report said staff don’t have the time to check car transporters at Southampton despite evidence they are being used by illegal stowaways.
Cruise liners can turn up at south-coast ports such as Falmouth where the nearest ‘manned’ border desk is up to two hours away.
On one weekend in Poole, a vehicle scanner wasn’t being used as there was no one on duty trained to use it.
Inspectors also found staff regularly failing to check car boots or see if anyone was on the back seats of motors with tinted windows.
Furious MPs demanded the Home Office “immediately” plug the gaps given rising fears about a No Deal Brexit. The alarming security holes come despite a marked rise in largely Iraqi and Iranian migrants targeting ports such as Poole and Portsmouth as security improves at Dover and Calais.
David Bolt, Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, said one official admitted the south coast border was “not secured by any stretch of the imagination”.
Another in Portsmouth told inspectors that migrants were “well aware of Border Force’s limited resource” and would split up and hide in different trailers as they knew if one was detected the agency wouldn’t have the capacity to search other lorries.
Staff were “certain” that illegal migrant groups co-ordinated their attempts to get into the UK – remarking “their intel is a lot better than ours”. The report revealed the number of clandestine detections at south coast ports fell from 1,119 in 2017-2018 to 882 in 2017-2018.
But there were increases in Portsmouth – up from 155 to 245 - and Poole – from 83 to 117 - as migrants were forced to use ferry ports in Normandy and Spain to get to Britain.
David Bolt said he recognised that Border Force was dealing with “challenges” –and the job was made harder by Brexit preparations.
But he stormed: “It is difficult to escape the impression that Border Force believes it knows best and will make changes only on its own terms and at its own pace.”
The Home Office admitted: “We accept that improvements can be made and will be taking forward the recommendations.”
The report also revealed
- Efforts to improve Border Force coverage of small marinas and remote beaches along the south-coast were a “work in progress”.
- No fines were issued to those people who were found with suspected illegal immigrants last year.
- Border Force can’t use X-ray scanners to scan vehicles at UK controls in Calais as it’s not permitted under French law.
- Maritime Command has 5 seagoing cutters to patrol UK waters. But one is in the Med and another in the Aegean near Greece.
- Staffing levels at Dover, Newhaven, Portsmouth, Southampton, Poole and Plymouth are below the agreed amount.
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Labour’s Yvette Cooper – chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee – demanded the Government resolve staffing and resourcing issues “immediately” to secure the border and restore public confidence.
She stormed: “This report shows border force officers are badly overstretched and under resourced, to the extent that they cannot be even remotely confident about preventing all clandestine entry attempts.”
Migration Watch called on the Home Office to do all it could to prevent new ‘Jungle’ migrant camps springing up in Normandy – at ports such as Caen – as security improves around Calais.
The think tank said: “It is imperative the Home Office heeds the warnings and addresses the problems before it escalates to ‘Jungle’ proportions.”
Migrants NHS Gag
HOME Office officials have lost powers to use NHS patient data to trace people breaking immigration rules.
Migrant campaigners revealed the Government has binned a tie-up following a High Court legal challenge.
The Home Office has been using non-clinical data such as previous addresses for the past 18 months to trace people.
They will now only be able to request data when there is a “serious risk to public safety”.
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