'Woke Up' welcome signs in Dover to replace Channel migrants

Last month, a group of people believed to be migrants were brought to Dover. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA

Welcome to the Woke signs for illegal Channel migrants in Dover are to be removed and replaced with notices that they have broken the law and will be deported from the UK.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick was shocked to find colorfully branded welcome signs that turned the migrants' drop-off site into a 'welcome' humanitarian operation rather than 'law enforcement' on Britain's southern border.

A source said: 'He ordered that they remove all warning signs and make it clear to arrivals that they have broken the law and that they can expect to be removed, and that if they facilitated the arrival they can expect to be told they will be held accountable.

“This should be a law enforcement environment for those who have broken the law and entered the UK illegally, not a welcome centre.”

Border Patrol officers will also be given additional powers to seize and inspect migrants' mobile phones due to their value as a potential intelligence goldmine that can help establish who they are, where they have been, and where they came from.

The new powers provided by the amendment to the Irregular Migration Act will be reinforced by the creation of a dedicated group of immigration and technical experts to check phones «in real time» as potentially the main source of information on migrants. .

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People transporters advise migrants to refuse any documents. Freedom of Information Request data last year showed that only 317 (2 percent) of the 16,510 Channel migrants had passports when they were picked up by border guards. This meant that 16,300 people arrived in the UK without documentation.

“He instructed the team to seize more phones. The opinion is that we are not doing enough. We will add more staff to the team,” the source said.

Mr Jenrick also told border officials he wants more surveys of migrants to ascertain their origins, the human smugglers who smuggled them across the English Channel. on small boats and their contacts as part of a campaign to support “upstream” investigations to stem the flow of migrants at the source.

“We want to deepen our understanding of migrant patterns in order to address the migrant crisis more upstream flow,” the source said.

Ministers have given immigration officials additional powers to detain migrants in Manston for up to five days, up from 24 hours previously, allowing more time for questioning and investigation. the arrival of small boats.

The number of migrants crossing the border began to increase. Data from the Home Office on Tuesday showed that 5,049 people made the dangerous journey on 121 boats this year, averaging 42 people per boat.