Around 70 migrants found crossing the Channel as Turkey warns it can’t cope with migration crisis
Written by News on 10/09/2019
Around 70 migrants are believed to have attempted to cross the Channel in several vessels on Tuesday, Sky News understands.
Border Force boats Speedwell and Hunter intercepted up to 20 migrants on a boat in the Channel and they have been brought back to the UK.
Meanwhile, Sky News understands a further 23 have been rescued at sea, while 11 more managed to land at Greatstone beach, near Dungeness in Kent.
This follows an earlier incident confirmed by the Home Office in which 22 migrants were intercepted and later transferred to immigration officials in Dover.
The 22 migrants who have been processed were believed to be from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Philippines.
More than 50 suspected migrants arrived on Britain’s shoreline in one day at the end of August.
These latest reports of crossings came on Tuesday as Turkey said the country could not cope with a rise in the number of migrants from Syria.
And in recent weeks, Turkey has put pressure on European nations to help its migration situation.
President Tayyip Erdogan called for more help to deal with an influx Syrian refugees after saying two weeks ago that he could open the gates for Syrians to massively migrate into Europe.
He announced plans to resettle one million refugees in northern Syria and said the route for migrants into Europe would reopen if Turkey does not receive enough international support for the plan.
More than 3.5 million Syrian refugees currently live in Turkey as a result of the conflict that has battered Syria since 2011.
Responding to Mr Erdogan’s announcement, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused Turkey of trying to threaten Greece and the EU.
“Mr Erdogan must understand that he cannot threaten Greece and Europe in an attempt to secure more resources to handle the refugee (issue),” Mr Mitsotakis said.
He argued that the European Union has given €6bn (£5.3bn) in recent years to help Turkey deal with the migrant crisis.
At the peak of the crisis in 2015, thousands of migrants arrived on Greek shores every day.
The numbers had sharply decreased after Turkey and the EU signed a deal to cut off the flow in 2016, but more migrants have been arriving in Greece in recent months.
On one day in August, 13 boats carrying 546 people landed in Lesbos and 32 people were rescued at sea – marking the first mass arrival from Turkey in three years.
(c) Sky News 2019: Around 70 migrants found crossing the Channel as Turkey warns it can’t cope with migration crisis
