Illegal immigrants caught sneaking across the Channel soars to 120 a week – and there’s a record 7k at the Calais Jungle
Nearly 6,500 were found seven months after entering the UK on the back of a lorry
THE number of illegal immigrants caught after sneaking across the Channel has exploded to 120 a week, a damning report revealed yesterday.
A staggering 6,427 migrants were found “in country” between April and October 2015 after entering the UK on the back of a lorry – nearly three times higher than 2014.
It also emerged that the Calais Jungle camp has swelled to more than 7,000 occupants for the first time, despite repeated attempts to close most of it down.
And aid agencies projected it will hit 10,000 by the end of the summer as 50 people a day are now arriving, setting up makeshift tents amid squalor.
Tory backbencher Charlie Elphicke said the figures defied belief – and called for a huge increase in funding for Border Force teams.
He told the Sun: “It’s appalling that the number of migrants smuggled into Britain trebled last year.
“It’s clear there needs to be serious investment in securing our borders and the white cliffs of Dover as we leave the European Union.”
Bernard Jenkin, Tory MP for the Essex port of Harwich, added: “We are going to need coastal border patrols and much more rigorous inspections.
“It’s about making the regime effective so it removes the temptation to try and break in.”
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Last month, Brexit campaigners revealed an incredible 84,088 migrants had been caught trying to slip past UK border controls in France and Belgium.
A Home Office spokeswoman yesterday blamed the EU migration crisis. She insisted the Government had invested “tens of millions” to bolster security at ports in the UK and France.
But Migration Watch chair Andrew Green told the Sun: “This is clear evidence of the growing pressure of illegal immigration on our borders.
“This is something that will only continue to grow unless there are massively greater efforts to remove illegals when they are detected.”
