Union’s strike threat over Priti Patel’s plans to turn back migrants’ dinghies in the English Channel

Border Force officials could go on strike over Priti Patel’s “morally reprehensible” plans to turn back dinghies in the English Channel, a union has said.
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The Home Office is facing legal action over proposals to turn small boats around at sea, a tactic campaigners warn could put lives at risk.

The news comes after figures compiled by the PA news agency showed that 28,300 people crossed the Dover Strait aboard small boats in 2021, triple the number for 2020.

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The government continues to consider various options to tackle the issue and has invited businesses to a non-disclosure, agreement-bound meeting in the hope of hearing “innovative ideas”.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by the RNLI following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Tuesday January 4, 2022. PA Photo.A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by the RNLI following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Tuesday January 4, 2022. PA Photo.
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by the RNLI following a small boat incident in the Channel. Picture date: Tuesday January 4, 2022. PA Photo.

Meanwhile, the home secretary has called in scientific advisors in a bid to use X-rays and other medical checks on asylum seekers to stop what she described as grown men “masquerading as children” on their applications.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), whose members include around 80% of the Border Force officials who would be tasked with implementing the “pushbacks”, and the charity Care4Calais have filed an application for judicial review on the pushback policy.

They intend to challenge the lawfulness of redirecting boats out of UK waters and back to France.

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The union said the policy “contravenes international law and is morally reprehensible”, and could expose Border Force officials to risk of prosecution.

Even if the court application is unsuccessful, the union has not ruled out industrial action and officials refusing to carry out the pushbacks.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The legality of the pushbacks policy is in serious question.”

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