Former Director General of the UK Border Force Tony Smith has explained why the police are “fast tracking” small boat migrants into Britain without a proper vetting process.
Speaking on GB News, Smith gave his take on a concerning new report that revealed just one in 15 illegal migrants are questioned upon arrival on British shores.
This means many migrants with a criminal past, beyond illegally arriving into the country, are able to circumvent police checks before being handed free accommodation.
According to Smith, authorities are concerned about the legal rights illegal migrants are handed.
Tony Smith said the lack of checks are extremely concerning
PA / GB NEWS
He told Martin Daubney: “It’s very worrying. I spent a lot of time in border security and it’s really important anyone coming into this country is thoroughly screened.
“We already know the migrant boats are turning up undocumented. We don’t know who they are. There’s a huge presser here which is getting them through the Manston Process really quickly.
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“It’s a short-term holding facility which means we can’t keep them for more than 24 hours. If we do, we can be sued for unlawful detention.”
He continued: “If you hold them for more than the period allowed under the regulation, you are then liable. The Home Office got into trouble about this a couple of years ago.
“The process established means you can’t properly interview them and investigate them. What we should be doing is detaining them. We could put a detention holding facility at Manston and keep them there until we have done a thorough investigation.
“We’re not making good use of facial recognition technology. There are 6.2 billion photos our police have. A lot of people have been here before and been through our system.
Tony Smith joined Martin Daubney on GB News
GB NEWS
“We’re pushing people through and it’s really, really worrying.”
Manston is a short-term holding facility located on a former military base in Kent and has faced criticism for its conditions, particularly concerning overcrowding and basic amenities.
It was opened in February 2022 in response to the hefty number of Channel migrants arriving on British shores.
The report by HIs Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary revealed arrivals are only asked to take part in voluntary interviews with a Home Office Intelligence team, rather than being compelled to do so.
The Sudanese migrant said he is planning to travel to Britain in a small boatGB NewsLabour has announced a new ‘taskforce’ fronted by a deputy chief constable in response.
The former border chief said the lack of a proper deterrent is Britain’s biggest stumbling block in halting the migrant crisis.
“You don’t join the Border Force to process people quickly into the country, that’s not what they want to do, I know these people well and they want a removals deterrent”, he said.
“They expect to be able to arrest someone who hasn’t got the papers and send them somewhere. We can’t send them back to France and they abolished the Rwanda plan.
“It was the boldest attempt I’ve seen anywhere in the world since sovereign borders and they had a huge fight in the courts in Strasbourg. We were nearly there. If we could have just got a few flights away, I would have loved to have seen some of the messages running around Dunkirk and Calais.
“It was a basic error for it to be abolished having gone that far.”
Labour’s Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt told GB News: “Police forces across the UK are already very committed to this issue.
“While immigration related arrests and charges have increased, we know there is more to do.”
