Big Rise in Turkish Illegal Immigrants Crossing Channel to Come to Britain

Illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel in a small boat traveling from France off the coast of Dover, England on Aug. 29, 2023. Gareth Fuller/PA

The number of illegal immigrants coming to Britain from Turkey, crossing in small boats across the English Channel, has risen almost threefold in the last year.

The latest Home Office statistics, released this week, show the number of illegal immigrants from Turkey has risen from 1,127 in 2022 to 3,060 last year.

Last month 166 people from Turkey crossed by small boat, second only to the 338 from Iran, and more than the 134 coming from Afghanistan, which has been the most common source since the Taliban took Kabul in Aug. 2021.

Considering the low rate of approval for asylum applications from Turkey, the majority are believed to be economic migrants.

Some may have been misled by people traffickers while others might be aware that they will eventually be deported back to Turkey but be planning to work in the black economy, to earn money, before they are inevitably sent home.

Earlier this year, a branch of the Woody Grill kebab restaurant chain in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, was closed for three months after illegal immigrants were repeatedly found to be working there.

The Woody Grill Group’s group operations manager said, in a statement to Hammersmith and Fulham Council, he was “both embarrassed and disappointed” about the presence of illegal workers at the branch, which he said was “unacceptable” and was blamed on the branch’s general manager, who has since been replaced.

Last year, the Home Office announced plans to increase the fines for employers from £15,000 per illegal worker up to £45,000, and up from £20,000 to £60,000 for a repeated breach.

The Telegraph says many of the small boats used in the channel crossings are believed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) to have been manufactured in workshops in Turkey, then transported and stored in Germany, before being equipped with Chinese-made outboard motors and then transported to the French or Belgian coastline to await their fee-paying passengers.

Until this year, the number of Turkish individuals on board was very low.

‘Legitimate Routes’ for Turkish Migration Ended by Brexit

But when Britain left the European Union in Dec. 2020, it also left the Ankara Agreement, which had allowed Turkish nationals to come and work in Britain legally. The Turkish business person’s visa, another route of entry, has also been terminated.

Ipek Ozerim, editor of T-Vine, a magazine for the UK Turkish community, said, “It’s no surprise there is a large influx of illegal migrants from Turkey.”

“The end of the Ankara Agreement has cut off a legitimate route into the UK. This coupled with the severe cost of living crisis in Turkey and massive disillusionment with life for young people and those who are opposed to the conservative, religious rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan means many are desperate to get out,” she added.

Ms. Ozerim told The Epoch Times: “Turkish and Kurdish gangs are heavily involved in people smuggling across Europe. Their networks extend into the irregular cash economy, from restaurants to building sites and car washes, allowing illegal migrants to quickly find work. That encourages even more people to try their luck entering the UK illegally.”

The total number of small boat crossings in 2023 was down to 29,437, a 36 percent fall on the figure of 45,774 in 2022.

It is the first fall since the Home Office began keeping record and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Home Secretary James Cleverly, have claimed it showed the government was getting to grip with the issue.

The number of people making crossings in small boats rose from 299 in 2018 up to 28,526 in 2021 and then almost doubled in 2022, becoming a major political issue.

Big Fall in Albanian Migrants

Tellingly, the number of Albanian nationals making the crossing by small boat, has fallen steeply.

In 2022 they made up 28 percent of the total but that has fallen to just 3 percent in 2023.

Part of the reason for the fall is believed to be a change of policy by TikTok, which stopped carrying ads for Albanian people traffickers.

The British government also struck a deal with Tirana in which both agreed to work together to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, who were almost entirely economic migrants.

The UK Border Force staff set up a joint migration task force with the Albanian police and several NCA operations were launched against Albanian gangs.

Consequently, the number of Albanians crossing the channel dropped from 12,658 in 2022, to 927 in 2023.