Sajid Javid Questions Whether Channel Migrants Are ‘Genuine’ Asylum Seekers

Following talks with high-level officials on Monday, Javid also redeployed two cutters from overseas to join HMC Vigilant and pledged better co-operation with French authorities. 

He acknowledged that if Border Force vessels pick up migrants in British waters, they would be taken to a port in Britain, but said the UK would send a strong message to trafficking gangs that they “won’t succeed”.

But he stressed that journey across the world’s busiest shipping lane were highly perilous, and being undertaken by children as young as nine. 

“It’s incredibly dangerous, please do not do that, you are taking your life into your own hands,” he said. 

“Also if you do somehow make it to the UK, we will do everything we can to make sure that you are often not successful because we need to break that link, and to break that link means we can save more lives.”

Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, has said Europe cannot “close its borders” as he spoke about the migrant crisis facing the continent.

The Labour leader said it’s “obviously necessary to work with other countries”, but highlighted the “humanitarian aspect” of those people trying to cross into the UK.

“They are the product of wars, they are the product of human rights abuses, they are the product of environmental disasters. Europe cannot close its borders to them,” he said.