Two arrested in Manchester on suspicion of arranging illegal movement of migrants
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of arranging the illegal movement of migrants across the English Channel.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said a 33-year-old Iranian and a 24-year-old British man had been arrested in Manchester.
The arrests come just days after the Home Secretary branded a "major incident", after almost 100 migrant made the dangerous crossing over the Christmas period.
Speaking on Wednesday, Sajid Javid added that 539 people had crossed the Channel in 2018, with 80% making the journey in the last three months of the year.
The NCA has not said whether the two arrests were specifically connected to any of these crossings.
The arrests come as it was revealed Mr Javid had written to the Ministry of Defence to request use of the Royal Navy to help deal with the Channel migrant issue.
An MoD source said that HMS Mersey, an offshore patrol vessel, is “available and ready” to be deployed.
It would represent a significant escalation of Britain’s response to the migrant crisis after Mr Javid earlier this week announced the redeployment of two Border Force cutters from the Mediterranean.
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Rupert Evelyn
Also on Wednesday, Mr Javid sparked controversy when he questioned whether migrants using small boats to make the risky journeys across the English Channel are genuine asylum seekers.
Speaking on a visit to Dover, the 49-year-old questioned why they had not sought asylum in the first safe country they entered.
He also suggested that those picked up by UK authorities faced having asylum requests denied as a deterrent to prevent others undertaking the same dangerous journey.
Tory MP for Dover and Deal Charlie Elphicke weighed in to the debate to speculate whether French fishermen were helping migrants across the border.
"I think in some cases with the bigger craft they seem to have made it all the way over to Britain from French beaches but in other cases where they're smaller crafts, the suspicion is that they're being dropped off by French fishing vessels - that's why having those border force cutters back from the Mediterranean to intercept those traffickers is so important," he said.
Sajid Javid questions whether cross-Channel migrants are ‘genuine’ asylum seekers
Fishermen in France say they are ‘victims’ of migrant attempts to steal their trawlers
Fishermen in France have however, fiercely contested the allegations.
The President of the local fishing association Stephane Pinto told ITV News that the allegations made him "very cross."
Last month Mr Javid announced that two more Border Force cutters will patrol the English Channel after scores of migrants risked the perilous crossing over the Christmas period.
The Home Secretary, who cut short a family holiday in South Africa to take personal control of the situation following criticism of the Government’s response, defended describing it as a “major incident”.
He told reporters on Wednesday that 539 people had crossed the Channel in 2018, with 80% making the journey in the last three months of the year.
He said “almost every case” saw those crossing go on to seek asylum in the UK, adding: “A question has to be asked: if you are a genuine asylum seeker why have you not sought asylum in the first safe country that you arrived in?
“Because France is not a country where anyone would argue it is not safe in anyway whatsoever, and if you are genuine then why not seek asylum in your first safe country?”
Following talks with high-level officials on Monday, Mr Javid redeployed two cutters from overseas to join HMC Vigilant, which is already patrolling off the South coast.
He also pledged:
Better co-operation between French and UK law enforcement agencies
More work on disrupting attempts to cross the Channel “both directly, but also in more covert ways”
And said the Government is doing “everything we can” to ensure migrants are returned to France where possible
But the Home Secretary acknowledged that if Border Force vessels pick up migrants in British waters, they would be taken to a port in Britain.
On Wednesday he said the UK had to send a strong message to trafficking gangs that they “won’t succeed and we won’t allow people to succeed”.
He said that anyone who made it to the UK would see an asylum request processed “in the normal way”.
But pointing out that the journey across the world’s busiest shipping lane was highly perilous and being undertaken by children as young as nine, Mr Javid continued: “It’s incredibly dangerous, please do not do that, you are taking your life into your own hands.
“Also if you do somehow make it to the UK, we will do everything we can to make sure that you are often not successful because we need to break that link, and to break that link means we can save more lives.”
There were 27,966 asylum applications in the UK from main applicants in the year ending September 2018.
This was 4% higher than in the previous 12 months, but lower than the levels seen in 2015 and 2016 during the European migration crisis.
Home Office statistics show 5,295 of the applications were received at ports, while 22,671 were received "in-country".
The total number of asylum applications to EU countries in the year to September was estimated at 613,200, down 16% on the previous year.
The UK had the sixth highest number of applications within the EU.
Labour backbencher Stella Creasy, who has visited migrant camps in Calais, accused Mr Javid of normalising "anti-refugee rhetoric online".
She added: "The asylum system in France is completely deadlocked and I fear deliberately so - they should be challenged on that.
"But none of that means Britain can absolve itself of responsibility to refugees.
"People will continue to die and be at mercy of traffickers all the time politicians pretend to play tough for votes rather than recognise why people flee."