UK security services have some Channel migrants under daily surveillance because they are feared to be a threat, it was claimed today.
Former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick referred to the monitoring as he highlighted the national security risks posed by the small boats crisis.
Speaking on a visit to the US, Mr Jenrick insisted the risk of terrorism and organised crime had to be taken ‘seriously’ because the authorities know ‘little, if anything, about these people’.
He said that was among the reasons why countries had to take ‘the most robust action’ to stop illegal immigration.
UK security services have some Channel migrants under daily surveillance because they are feared to be a threat, it was claimed today. Pictured, a file image of arrivals being brought ashore. There is no suggestion any of these individuals are involved
Former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick referred to the monitoring as he highlighted the national security risks posed by the small boats crisis
Mr Jenrick has been visiting Texas to see how they are implementing tactics such as tethered inflatable barriers.
As a minister he struck up an alliance with the state’s governor Greg Abbott.
Mr Jenrick told GB News: ‘I’ve been making the argument that we are in an age of mass migration, and that all developed countries like the UK, Europe and the United States, are going to be facing a generational issue of millions of people on the move, looking to come primarily for economic prospects, and that we need to take the most robust action possible.
‘That’s why it’s very important that we learn from what other countries are doing and experiencing and the United States is in the midst of a migration crisis. I think that’s a portent of what can happen here in the UK if we don’t go further and faster.’
Mr Jenrick repeated his support for physical infrastructure, like buoys, to blockade water routes used by migrants.
He said that he agreed with Republicans who treated the problems as a ‘national security issue’.
‘I want the UK to treat this as a national security emergency,’ Mr Jenrick said. ‘I really do think that we have to view this as a national security emergency because we know little, if anything, about these people who are breaking into our country on small boats.
Rishi Sunak has made stopping the boats one of his key pledges ahead of the general election
‘What we’ve learned is that there is a very significant link between some of them, and serious organized crime. If you look at the Albanians who are coming across, a very strong link, for example, with the drug trade in the UK.’
Mr Jenrick said the problems went even deeper, with the security services required to keep watch on arrivals.
‘I can tell you that some of the issues are even more serious than that, and that there are individuals who come across on small boats who are being monitored by our security services every day because they’re deemed to be a risk to our security and would actually do real harm to British citizens,’ Mr Jenrick said.
‘That is why we’ve got to take this seriously. That’s why I’ve always advocated for the policy of Rwanda where we actually detain people as soon as they arrive and get them out of the country within days.’
