The Home Office response to soaring numbers of migrants entering the UK across the English Channel is "poor," a report has found. The report by Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI), David Neal, found the "ineffective and inefficient" Home Office response has exposed gaps in security procedures and left vulnerable migrants at risk.
In 2021, 28,526 people arrived on the south coast in small boats, according to Home Office statistics, an increase from 236 in 2018. An inspection of the Tug Haven and Western Jet Foil processing facilities, both in Dover, found the Government response to the challenge of the increasing numbers was poor, particularly in terms of systems, processes and resources.
According to the report, the Home Office told ICIBI inspectors that 227 migrants had gone missing from secure hotels between September 2021 and January 2022. Data collection and accurate record keeping is “inexcusably awful,” according to Neal, who said the equipment used to carry out security checks is out-of-date and unreliable.
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Many migrants had not had their full identities recorded, with their fingerprints or photographs not taken. Neal said: “Put simply, if we don’t have a record of people coming into the country, then we do not know who is threatened or who is threatening.”
He criticised the “unacceptable” Home Office response in dealing with the arrival of many vulnerable and at risk migrants, including children and lone women. The report claims effective safeguarding was sacrificed in an effort to move migrants through the facilities quickly, due to the large numbers crossing the Channel.
It says there were no interpreters used in processing procedures, hindering the ability of staff to identify and safeguard vulnerable migrants. Neal said: “The Home Office has failed over the past three years to move from a crisis response to having better systems and procedures in place and treating this as business as usual."
The report praised Border Force and Immigration Enforcement officers, laying the blame for the failures on “a lack of effective and visible leadership.” It said: “The workforce can do no more. They have responded with enormous fortitude and exceptional personal commitment.
“This is not about rank and file staff working hard on the quayside at Dover, this is about effective leadership, grip and the ability to bring in systems that work. A new model for Borders and Enforcement is desperately required if our border is to be secured and vulnerability effectively addressed."
Many of the issues identified in the report were picked up in 2021 during an inspection by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, which found migrants were being held in “unsatisfactory conditions.” This inspection also criticised Home Office systems relating to governance, accountability and safeguarding.
A reinspection of the migrant processing facilities is expected later this year.
The Home Office thanked Mr Neal for the report, adding: “Since the inspection took place, we have transformed how we manage the arrival of migrants making dangerous and unnecessary Channel crossings in small boats. This includes the previously planned closure of Tug Haven and the movement to a two-site operation at Western Jet Foil and Manston.
“We have accepted all the report’s recommendations, the majority of which were already being addressed at the time of the inspection, and almost all this work has already been completed.”
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