Ex-border chief declares 'matter of urgency' as illegal migrants board small boats from Belgium instead of France

Small boats of illegal migrants are now being launched from Belgian towns as far as De Haan, near Bruges, before travelling for up to four hours to pick up migrants in locations such as Dunkirk and Gravelines on the French coast.

Belgian authorities have recorded 17 launches this year alone, compared to no more than two annually since 2021.

Discussing the growing trend in crossings from Belgium, Mr Vine told GB News that the organised crime groups running the operations in the Channel are "very clever businesspeople".

He said: "They're looking for profit, obviously, and if the going gets tough in northern France and the French police are now doing something rather than just looking and taking photographs of people getting in boats, then perhaps this is the reason why the smugglers are using the Belgian coast.

"But of course there's an agreement with the Belgian authorities as well, so it's time perhaps now for the focus to be on the relationship between Border Force and the Belgian police, to see whether they can do a different job from the one we've very often witnessed the French doing."

As host Martin Daubney expressed his frustration at a lack of "detaining and deporting" from the British border force, Mr Vine agreed that there "needs to be a deterrent" to prevent the continued surge in small boat crossings.

He explained: "There needs to be a deterrent, a realistic actual deterrent, which actually addresses the demand. And unless that happens, this will continue to carry on in a variety of different guises."

Mr Vine suggested that a suspension in UK-France negotiations could result in the French Police being "tougher" with small boat crossings.

He said: "If it means that the French police are actually being tougher and are now intervening in the shallow waters and making the boats unusable, then that's a good thing. Perhaps this is a response to the ongoing negotiations with the Home Secretary, because we know that they're suspended at the moment.

"There's an interim arrangement in place, but actually, what the Home Secretary was asking for was for people to return to use the British cutters to return people to France, and the French have said no. But I think that would be a good thing to do."

Mr Vine also warned that the longer journey on the small boats could result in an increase in loss of life in the Channel, creating a "matter of urgency" for authorities.

He warned: "The people on the boats are going to be travelling much further at sea, in very unsuitable craft, if they actually are launched from the Belgian coast much further away, so there's an increasing risk to life.

"And so the authorities need to address this as a matter of urgency, because only a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about a tragedy of four people dying in the Channel.

"So if this becomes the norm, then I think there's more likelihood of people losing their lives in the Channel, because they're travelling further at sea."

Highlighting that there is a "real shift" in the method in which illegal migrants are reaching Britain, Mr Vine concluded: "I think in recent years there's been maybe two or three a year identified as launching from Belgium. That has risen to 17 in the year so far, so I think it does signify a shift in tactics.

"What our authorities need to be is equally quick in addressing the threat, so what is needed is intelligence about what is happening, and we need to intervene. We need to stop people getting in the boats.

"And if there are encampments on the coast of Belgium, as there are on the coast of France, those encampments need to be dismantled. We need to act now in order to try and address this source, if we can."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We are aware of dangerous and illegal small boat launches from Belgium. Through continued shared intelligence and close partnerships with Belgian authorities, numerous others have been successfully prevented to prevent illegal arrivals to the UK."