Home Office misleading public over Channel UK immigration

The UK’s Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has been accused of ‘misleading’ the public over the UK immigration crisis in the Channel. According to an MP, Patel has wrongly been labelling migrant Channel crossings as ‘illegal’. In December 2021, several judges ruled that refugees attempting to reach a British port or rescued at sea had not committed a crime.

One judge, Lord Justice Edis, said: “As the law presently stands, an asylum seeker who merely attempts to arrive at the frontiers of the UK in order to make a claim is not entering or attempting to enter the country unlawfully.”

However, despite several judges ruling that those arriving by boat across the Channel were not committing a crime, Patel along with other UK government figures continue to describe the increasing number of crossings as ‘illegal’.