Criticism for UK overreaction to 'migrant crisis'

UK government ministers have been criticised for whipping up a political storm around the small smattering of migrants crossing the English Channel since Christmas.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Monday led a cross-government meeting in response the issue of small ships bringing migrants in dribs and drabs, as the UK and France sketch out a joint action plan that is expected to be launched later this week.

The Home Office indicated that almost 100 people have been picked up on or near the Kent and Sussex coast since Christmas, which Javid has described as a “major incident”.

However, figures show there was a 23% fall in the number of clandestine entrants to UK south coast ports in 2017/18 to an estimated 1,832, from 2,366 the year before, while last year there was an 18% decline in the number of people seeking asylum last year to 28,000.

Javid said in an article written for the Daily Telegraph that the factors fuelling recent migrant arrivals were instability in the Middle East, organised crime and tighter security at Calais, while admitting “the reasons behind the increased crossings are complicated and in many cases outside of our control”.

Opposition parties accused the government of using the issue for political gain and criticised the handling of border issues.

“There’s no question that with Brexit, and also with the approach of the meaningful vote in January, people are being whipped up about migration issues, because the government thinks this is the best way of frightening people to vote for their deal," shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told the Guardian.

Referring to former Ukip leader Nigel Farage's infamous 'Breaking Point' anti-migrant poster, she added: “It’s the Farage technique: ‘hordes’ of people trying to enter the country. You frighten people about that.”

Abbott said Brexit would make co-operation with France and other partners on the Continent "harder, not easier".

The LibDem home affairs spokesperson, Ed Davey, drew parallels with US President Trump's scare stories about migrant caravans in the run-up to the recent mid-term elections and the building of the Mexican wall.

“People may be justifiably cynical about the sudden hysteria over this long running issue," Davey told HuffPost UK. “With leading Conservatives jostling for a future leadership contest and Number 10 aping President Trump in their political manipulation of all things immigration, one might well question their motives. Rather than such squalid political calculations, we need a more humane and practical response.”

Davey called for more investment in tackling criminal gangs trafficking people, drugs and weapons, while saying that Britain should not shirk its "proud tradition of offering a haven to refugees by offering safe routes to sanctuary for those forced from their homes by war and persecution".

Leading immigration and asylum barrister Colin Yeo said UK politicians were turning the smattering of small boats into a big news story, saying: “The numbers seem pretty low – there have been plenty of arrivals previously. It’s not exactly a new thing.

Yeo added: “Over the last 20 years, you see politicians thinking that they’ve got to talk tough on immigration in order to assuage public concern. But what they actually do by ramping up the rhetoric is create and feed public concern, and it then gets out of their control and there is nothing that they can do at that point to meet the demands they’ve created.”

Controlling immigration, both illegal and legal, is one of the chief planks of Conservative party policy and Prime Minister Theresa May has made it one of her main "red lines" in Brexit negotiations, seemingly over and above other economic factors.

This is despite migrants contributing more to Britain than they take. Research has shown, for example, that the average adult migrant from Europe yields £2,370 more for the Treasury in 2017 than the average British-born adult did.