Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many boats suspected to have been used for the transport of illegal immigrants to the UK have been recovered on the south coast of England in the most recent period for which such information is available.

People crossing the Channel to enter the UK have come from a safe country – usually France – and so there is no reason why they need to make this trip in order to claim asylum. Those fleeing persecution should stay in the first safe country they enter.

The Home Office does not have published figures on the number of boats recovered as a result of clandestine attempts to enter the UK

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Any equipment, relating to a clandestine crossing attempt by small boat, discovered is recovered for forensic analysis and investigation.