French Spending Watchdog Accuses British Of Providing ‘Piecemeal’ Intelligence on Small Boat Crossings

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

France’s state auditor has criticised British authorities for providing “piecemeal information” on joint work stopping illegal small boat crossings.

On Thursday, France’s Cour des Comptes (Court of Accounts), which acts as a state auditor, said that British authorities are not doing enough to share intelligence on illegal migration via the English channel.

‘Very General’

The report said that despite a joint declaration by French and British authorities to commit to “improving and dismantling organised crime and networks,” the watchdog claimed that the British don’t provide “usable information on the departures of small boats, and give very general, first-level information that has not been counter-checked.”

The watchdog referred to a joint intelligence unit created in 2020 to dismantle people-smuggling networks.

It added that information regarding the conditions and nationalities of migrants, references or serial numbers of boats and engines, seemed “very piecemeal.”

“The relationship between France and the United Kingdom is therefore unbalanced in terms of exchanges of information and intelligence,” it said, adding that France is “struggling to develop operational co-operation arrangements.”

‘Out-of-Date’

A Home Office spokesman told The Epoch Times by email that the report is “based on out-of-date information and does not accurately reflect our current working relationship, including intelligence sharing, with France.”

He said that in the past two years, it has “taken more robust action alongside them to crack down on vile people smuggling gangs and stop the boats.”

“We continue to work closely with French partners at all levels, helping to drive forward improvements in the prevention of crossing attempts, both on the beaches and long before they reach them,” he added.

The French have received £480 million from the UK to spend between 2023 and 2026 to prevent illegals crossings. Before that the country received £191.3 million from 2018 to 2022.

“This relentless action has seen crossings fall by 36 percent in the last year. More than 26,000 of these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossing attempts were prevented in 2023 thanks to our strong partnership with France,” he said.

Last year saw more than 29,437 people making unauthorised crossings of the English Channel, the second highest annual total on record. The year before, 2022, had 45,774 crossings, and 2021 had 28,526, UK official figures show.

The most common small vessels detected making illegal crossings are rigid-hulled inflatable boats, dinghies and kayaks.

The Epoch Times understands that the French prevented nearly 33,000 crossings in 2022, an increase of over 40 percent on the number of crossings prevented in 2021. In 2023, a further 26,000 migrants failed to reach the UK on small boats.

Turkey

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

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 are planning to work in the black economy before they are inevitably sent home.

Analysis by The Epoch Times last year found that the number of Indian nationals arriving in the UK illegally via small boats has increased by 800 percent in four years.

The hike in Indians recorded as seeking asylum via small boat was due to a combination of factors, including India’s visa-free entry deal with Serbia, considered the gateway to Europe.

The Epoch Times contacted Court of Accounts for comment.

Chris Summers, Patricia Devlin and PA Media contributed to this report.