Evil people smugglers are welding dodgy boats together to cram even more desperate migrants into them
GREEDY people smugglers are welding together dodgy boats to cram even more migrants into them.
The revelation came as a staggering 884 asylum seekers made the dangerous Channel crossing on Tuesday as winter sets in.
Crossings have topped 43,000 this year for the first time as the numbers show no signs of slowing down, despite freezing weather.
The average number of people per boat has been rising as smugglers buy bigger vessels and try to squeeze more on.
One craft this week was spotted with 60 on board.
An Home Office source said: “We’ve been seeing bigger boats over the past year — and have even had reports of two boats being welded together at times.”
READ MORE ON MIGRATION CRISIS
In the Commons yesterday, Tory MP Paul Bristow called on PM Rishi Sunak to arrange a top-level meeting of government officials to deal with the “national emergency”.
Mr Sunak replied: “We will do whatever it takes to reduce the number of crossings, and take any new powers we need to.
“This is fundamentally about our sovereignty and proper control of our borders.”
Meanwhile, new statistics show that 80 per cent of Channel migrants are still in asylum legal limbo waiting for a decision on their case.
