Mary Elizabeth Truss, Known as Liz Truss, current British foreign minister, has promised to continue to employ the Royal Navy to tackle the problem of migrants crossing the Channel, should he become prime minister, despite the current program that plans to return control of the flows to the Border Force in January next year.
The Foreign Minister has stated, in this regard, that he will keep Her Majesty's Navy patrolling the English Channel. Speaking on the election campaign in Elgin, northeast of Inverness, Truss said: "It is a top priority to ensure that we address the problem of small boats and the terrible traffic of people. And I will use every tool at my disposal, if I am chosen as prime minister, to make this happen ".
A source close to Rishi sunak, Truss's rival for leadership, said he would retain the army's presence in border control, but did not go so far as to commit to keeping the Navy as operations manager of the crossings.
The source told the Daily Telegraph that “According to Rishi's plan, military experience will be essential to ensure control of our borders. It will introduce a task force to coordinate the response to each stage of the journey of an illegal migrant and which will inform on the review of the operation Isotropic, whose start is scheduled for January next year ".
The Daily Telegraph reported that the Navy would return control to Border Force on January 31, as expected, unless there are ministerial provisions.
When the Navy took operational control of the Channel crossings last April, the Ministry of Defense announced that its role would end on January 31, 2023. On twitter, Ben Wallace, Secretary of Defense, said the news reported by the Daily Telegraph was not new and that he referred to the announcement made in April.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense stated that: "As expected, Defense support to the Ministry of Interior will continue until January 2023, at which point the operational and broader agreements will be reviewed. We are working across the government to ensure that the conditions are in place for the defense to hand over the task to the Ministry of the Interior after the review, which includes support for training and capacity development ".
The Navy was called in to conduct patrols in April, following a surge in migrant crossings during the winter. This year, more than 20.000 migrants crossed the English Channel, almost double the number of last year. On Monday 78 migrants crossed the Channel aboard four boats.
The command and control task of the Navy in the Canal involved the coordination of the ships of the Border Force and Coast Guard at sea to rescue the migrants and bring them ashore, while the sailors were deployed on the docks to send people to the migrant reception centers. The Agency has deployed a 260-foot deep-sea ship and helicopter Wildcat to support the interceptions of the border forces, together with six training boats and three rigid-hulled inflatable boats to moor the boats of migrants.
Some MPs and members of the Border Force, however, have criticized the Navy for failing to stem the flow of migrants.