On Monday James Daly, the MP for Bury North, spoke in the House of Commons on the issue of illegal immigration across the English Channel.
In a question to Home Secretary, Suella Braveman MP, Mr Daly highlighted the significant number of migrants from Albanian illegally crossing the Channel on small boats.
Mr Daly said:
“So far this year 12,000 Albanians have crossed the Channel illegally in small boats, 10,000 of those are adult single males.
There is no reason for them to be here and we must follow the route of other European countries and ensure they are returned immediately to Albania.”
These figures came from last week’s session of the Home Affairs Select Committee where members including Mr Daly questioned UK Border Force and Home Office officials on the situation in the Channel.
Border Force’s Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, Dan O’Mahoney highlighted that this figure represents between one and two percent of Albania’s male population aged 18 to 40.
It was also raised by Mr O’Mahoney that a large number were “deliberately gaming the system” by using the Modern Slavery Act to claim they were trafficked into the UK, despite many paying thousands for the journey across the Channel.
In response to Mr Daly, the Home Secretary stated:
“It needs a multifaceted approach, deploying and operationalising the returns agreement that we have with Albania and ensuring that we take robust action against many people who are coming here from Albania with illegitimate aims.”
To see the last week’s session of the Home Affairs Select Committee in full you can go to the link below:
