France is failing to stop the small boats crisis in the Channel because it is not “serious” about halting the dangerous journeys, a former Australian prime minister famed for his tough stance on illegal immigration has warned.
Tony Abbott, who made stopping illegal arrivals a personal mission, argues that Britain must turn back boats in the Channel in order to defeat the people smugglers.
Mr Abbott said: “Look, the French won’t like it but, frankly, if the French were serious there would be no boats crossing the English channel. They could stop it if they wanted to but they are not doing it.”
He implemented Operation Sovereign Borders on his first day in office, putting the military in charge of stopping people arriving in Australia illegally by boat. Boats were towed back to Indonesia or else asylum seekers were sent back in lifeboats or inflatable dinghies.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for France to stop boats in their waters.
He said: “The Australians safely successfully turned around boats and, combined with removals to Nauru, stopped the crossings completely. The Belgians have also safely stopped and returned boats near their shores and embarkations from Belgian shores have virtually stopped.
“The French could – and should – do the same. If they stopped boats in French waters and returned them to France, pretty soon the crossings would stop completely.
“This would save lives at sea and the encampments and criminal gangs around Calais would disperse – so it’s in France’s interests to do this. I call on the French Government to forcibly intercept and return the boats.
“It will save lives.”
The Australian Government states on its website that “anyone who attempts an unauthorised boat voyage to Australia will be turned back to their point of departure, returned to their home country, or transferred to a third country for processing.”
It claims that since 2013 “Australia has intercepted every boat attempting to enter illegally” and there is “zero chance of illegal migration to Australia”.
In 2022 the UK Government dropped plans to intercept France and return them to France in what the PCS trade union described as a “humiliating climbdown”.
Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, warned against adopting the Australian tactics.
He said: “At least 69 people seeking safety died attempting to cross the English Channel last year.Push backs are dangerous and illegal and will only lead to more men, women and children dying off the south coast and taking even more dangerous routes to get here.
“The only humane way to reduce the number of people making the perilous journey across the sea is to create more safe routes to reach the UK to claim asylum.”
But Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: “We must demand that France and other countries put an end to the encouragement of migration to the UK. The situation has reached breaking point—we can no longer tolerate this level of unchecked illegal immigration…
“Find them in the channel, put them on a ship, and send them home.”
A Government source rejected Mr Abbott’s call for the boats to be turned around, saying: “The Labour Government won’t be lectured by a former Australian Prime Minister, who’s trying to diagnose a problem he knows nothing about without a solution. He didn’t solve the small boat crisis, lost control of his own party and flouted the international convention for the safety of lives at sea.”
