Story highlights
Albanian migrants rescued off Britain's Kent coast
Supporters of "Brexit" use rescue in their campaign to leave EU
Eighteen Albanian migrants rescued off Britain’s southern coast over the weekend might have thought they were sailing to a new life of opportunity. Instead they have found themselves the latest political football in the debate over whether the UK should leave the European Union.
Immigration has been a hot-button issue in discussions on the so-called Brexit, a term used to describe the June 23 referendum on whether Britain will exit the EU, and reports of migrants arriving on Britain’s shores appear to have renewed calls for tighter immigration controls.
A sea and helicopter rescue was launched off the coast of Kent to reach the migrants, who were traveling with two Britons in a dinghy, the UK Home Office said. They were taken to Dover for questioning by Border Force officers.
The two British men, Mark Stribling, 35, and Robert Stilwell, 33, have been charged under the Immigration Act of 1971 and appeared in a magistrate’s court Monday morning, the Home Office told CNN.
The rescue has raised concerns the English Channel may become the new Mediterranean Sea, which has seen the biggest movement of asylum seekers into Europe since World War II. At least 1,475 migrants have died this year making the perilous journey in the Mediterranean in crowded boats, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Three boats sank in the Mediterranean Sea within the past week, and officials fear the death toll could soar to more than 700.
A recent refugee-swap deal between the EU and Turkey has dramatically slowed the flow of boats crossing the Mediterranean, and now there’s concern migrants will make longer overland journeys to France and cross the English Channel, a busy shipping route that poses serious risks to the small dinghies used by refugees. It is unclear how such a small boat made it so close to the British coast.
Politicians campaigning to leave the EU have been quick to renew their calls following the rescue.
Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right UK Independence Party, said that Britain “must not make the same mistake as the EU has done over the Mediterranean situation” or “we are likely to find the English Channel becoming a mortuary.”
“We have all seen the horrors of the Mediterranean, with thousands crossing and hundreds dying, we cannot allow that to happen off the shores of Kent and Sussex,” Farage said.
He said it was important to make it clear migrants arriving by boat would not be allowed to remain in the country.
The Vote Leave campaign tweeted quotes by politicians from more mainstream parties, such as Home Secretary Theresa May, who said free movement in the EU “makes it harder to control immigration.” As a member of the EU, Britain must welcome citizens of other member nations as residents and allow them to work in the country.
Another tweet cited Parliament member Iain Duncan-Smith, who says Britain is losing control of its borders.
Right-wing media also raised a red flag, with The Sun describing the English Channel as the “new front line” of the migrant crisis.
But the National Crime Agency told CNN that people crossing the channel was nothing new, with numerous incidents of vessels being used to smuggle people and being intercepted.
A representative said the Albanian case received more media attention because a rescue effort was involved. But the agency warned that there was a current threat of people using smaller ports to enter the country.
At a media briefing last month by the agency, the deputy director of border policing command said gangs are being paid as much as ￡12,000 (about $17,500) to smuggle people into the UK on inflatable boats.
The agency could not confirm exact figures of migrants trying to cross the channel, but it said that rigid-hulled inflatable boats, known as RHIBs, have long been used to transport migrants across the narrow stretch of sea.