Letter: The use of small boats should not belittle the scale with which people are arriving illegally
A letter from M Cairns:
The media regularly refer to asylum seekers arriving on the shores of south east Britain as having arrived by way of 'small boat crossings'.
This term is interpreted by some as an attempt by the media and possibly government to diminish the issue somewhat.
In 1940, the evacuation of allied troops from Nazi occupied France took place over a two week period.
The evacuation of Dunkirk, otherwise known as Operation Dynamo was carried out by using many British and French tugs, fireboats, trawlers, motor yachts, small cruisers and cockle boats.
340,000 troops were saved by the use of civilian 'little ships' in the same waterway as todays illegal crossings.
The use of small boats, or little ships for that matter, should not belittle the scale with which people are arriving illegally en masse into Britain, the UK and Ireland.
M Cairns, Belfast BT15