In a speech at Kent Airport in Kent announcing the relocation, Mr Johnson said the aim was to ensure that “no boat reaches the UK undetected” by “identifying, intercepting and investigating” all attempts. It will be backed by £ 50 million in new government funding.
Citing incoming laws imposing life sentences on human smugglers, Mr Johnson said the new deployment would “send a clear message to those who operate boats: if you risk the lives of others in the English Channel, you risk spending your own life in prison “.
The government has come under enormous pressure to reduce the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, which has already reached a record 5,000 this year – twice as many as last year. On Wednesday, 600 people reached the United Kingdom, the highest number so far this year.
Military sources estimate that about 250 to 300 Royal Navy and Army personnel will be deployed in the English Channel with the primary goal of protecting and saving life at sea, given the dangerous nature of the transition to fragile small boats.
It will complement the three 140-foot border force boats – two of which are deployed at any one time and up to eight rigid hull inflatable ships. It also has two ships to transport the crew, low-cost boats that can carry up to 100 people.
They are supported by drones, fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles that can stay in the air for 20 hours, and four jets that have been tested for so-called reversal operations.
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