Channel migrants and missing documents: UK's identification puzzle grows bigger
UK border officials face hard-to-solve problem as Channel migrants arrive without ID papers. New data shows that only 1 in 50 people carry passports which makes deportation process more complex
Recent data shows that just 2% of people crossing the Channel keep their passports - a fact thats making UK border control extra-tough. Among 16‚510 arrivals only 317 had proper ID papers
The no-document situation creates a real head-scratcher for officials: without proper ID its hard to know migrants true background (and almost impossible to send them back). Tony Smith‚ ex-Border Force head explains: “People dont usually leave their country without papers; they get rid of them on the way“
Border Force does finger-printing and photo-taking of new-arrivals but theres a big problem - they cant check this info against EU databases since Brexit. The UK-only systems dont give the full picture; which means officers cant see previous EU asylum claims or criminal records
They are briefed to do it by the smugglers. Even if they have a passport‚ they are told not to take it with them
Sir Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper are working on fixing this data-sharing gap. They plan to make deals with countries like Serbia North Macedonia and Kosovo to share intel about people moving through their territories
The numbers tell an interesting story:
* Since 2018‚ about 146‚000 people crossed the Channel
* In 2010‚ officials made 103 document-related prosecutions
* By 2016‚ this dropped to just 5 cases
* Now theres only been 1 successful case in 6 years
The Home Office is trying to fix things by adding 1‚000 more staff to their returns unit. Dame Angela Eagle points to some progress: theyʼve sent back 9‚400 people‚ with forced-returns up 19%. Still Yvette Cooper stays positive saying they can ID people even without passports using “all kinds of evidence“
