LONDON: British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Sunday additional navy personnel and aircraft were being sent to help tackle a sharp rise in migrant crossings of the Channel.
The deployment of 鈥渟pecialist personnel from the Royal Navy鈥� and a third air force plane to conduct surveillance followed a request for support from the interior ministry.
鈥淭hese dangerous crossings ultimately put people鈥檚 lives in danger and it is right that we support the Border Force by providing specialist capabilities of defense, and our expert personnel to stop this criminal behavior,鈥� Wallace said in a statement.
More than 1,000 migrants have arrived on Britain鈥檚 shores in the last 10 days after crossing the Channel in small boats, according to analysis by the domestic Press Association news agency.
The issue is politically-charged in the UK, with the country鈥檚 right-wing newspapers decrying the arrivals and many ruling Conservative lawmakers calling for tougher border enforcement.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week called the crossings 鈥渧ery bad and stupid and dangerous.鈥�
He has vowed to change legislation that he said made it 鈥渧ery, very difficult鈥� to deport migrants 鈥渆ven though blatantly they鈥檝e come here illegally.鈥�
Meanwhile his immigration minister held talks with counterparts in Paris on Tuesday amid calls for the government to increase pressure on France to prevent migrants arriving in UK waters.
French maritime authorities said Sunday they had rescued 31 migrants, including three children and an infant, who were trying to cross the Channel in small boats.
It followed 38 migrants being picked up by French officials in the waterway 鈥� the busiest in the world 鈥� on Friday.
However, cross-Channel relations could be harmed by reports interior minister Priti Patel had told fellow Conservative MPs that migrants were coming to Britain because they believe France is a 鈥渞acist country鈥� where they may be 鈥渢ortured.鈥�
Government sources said Patel had made clear that she did not share those views and was simply explaining the 鈥減ull factors鈥� which led so many migrants to risk their lives in this way, according to UK media reports.