Sunak Says UK’s Illegal Immigrant Crisis Is ‘Serious and Escalating Problem’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street to attend Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London on Nov. 2, 2022. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the wave of illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel is a “serious and escalating problem,” and admitted the Home Office has been too slow to process asylum claims.

Almost 40,000 people have crossed the Channel this year in small boats, including 12,000 people from Albania, a peaceful country with a human rights record which is on a par with most of its neighbours in Eastern Europe.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman—who was appointed in September by former Prime Minister Liz Truss, resigned, and was then reappointed by Sunak on Oct. 25—has been criticised for her handling of the migrant crisis, and especially the Manston processing centre in Kent.

But on Wednesday Sunak backed her and said she had taken a number of steps to tackle overcrowding at Manston.

Sunak told MPs: “Since Sept. 30, more hotels with 4,500 new beds, appointing a senior general to control the situation at Manston and, indeed, increasing the number of staff there by almost a half—these are significant steps that demonstrate that we are getting a grip of this system.”

The Ministry of Defence site in Manston, Kent, which is to be used for processing illegal immigrants, on Jan. 20, 2022. Gareth Fuller/PA

But the prime minister added: “This is a serious and escalating problem. We will make sure that we control our borders and we will always do it fairly and compassionately, because that is the right thing.”

Braverman herself called the system “broken” on Monday during a speech in Parliament in which she was criticised by the opposition for describing the situation as an “invasion.”

Labour Blames Government for ‘Broken’ System

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Conservatives had been in power since 2010 so if the system was “broken” then it was their fault for not having fixed it.

Last week the Home Affairs Committee heard from Dan Hobbs, the Home Office’s director of asylum, protection, and enforcement, that only 4 percent of asylum claims from 2021 had been processed and there was a huge backlog.

On Wednesday, Starmer said: “They’re only taking half the number of asylum decisions that they used to. That’s why the system is broken.”

Braverman has also been criticised for failing to move people out of Manston, where there have been a number of cases of diphtheria and scabies, and Starmer asked Sunak if Braverman had been given legal advice on the subject.

Sunak refused to comment on what legal advice the government had received.

“I think the answer to the question whether the Home Secretary received legal advice to move people out of Manston is yes—he just hasn’t got the guts to say it,” Starmer replied.

It emerged on Wednesday that 6,912 people crossed the English Channel in October, with 1,065 arriving in just a single day.

Members of the military and UK Border Force extinguish a fire from a petrol bomb, targeting the Border Force centre in Dover, Britain, on Oct. 30, 2022. Reuters/Peter Nicholls

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the numbers at Manston had “fallen substantially” on Tuesday, with more immigrants expected to be moved on Wednesday.

Sir Roger Gale, the local Conservative MP, thanked Jenrick for “rectifying the mistakes that have been made by others” and said, “This must never be allowed to happen again.”

The row over illegal immigrants comes only days after a man firebombed an immigration facility on Dover docks before committing suicide.

Counter-terrorist officers are investigating Andrew Leak, 66, from Buckinghamshire, but believe he was a lone wolf.

PA Media contributed to this report.