Border Force lacks the resources to deal with an increasing number of migrants coming to Britain illegally on yachts, motorboats and trawlers, officials have warned.

Growing numbers of migrants are entering the country irregularly by private vessels rather than aboard small boats, a borders trade union said.

Lucy Moreton, of the ISU union which represents Border Force staff, said: ‘What we are seeing more of now is small yachts being used to transport people.

‘They can start from the Brittany coast in France and then sail into one of the small ports around the UK or get dropped off in the water.’

The Daily Mail reported last week how a £70,000 six-berth yacht, Tacoma, was hired at a French marina by a man who claimed to be Austrian.

He told the owners he planned a pleasure cruise along the Brittany coast – but then headed for Cornwall.

Migrants arrive at Dover after crossing by small boat earlier today

The £70,000 six-berth yacht, Tacoma, was hired at a French marina by a man who claimed to be Austrian. He told the owners he planned a pleasure cruise along the Brittany coast – but then headed for Cornwall – with 17 Albanians aboard

The Tacoma’s owners – monitoring it on a tracker – alerted the UK Border Force who pounced on the yacht as it reached the mouth of the Helford River, near Falmouth, on April 13.

Hiding inside the cabin were 17 Albanian migrants, including one woman, hoping to slip illegally into Britain.

A man on crutches is helped on board a migrant boat heading for England earlier this week

Lucy Moreton of the ISU trade union, which represents Border Force staff, said migrants using yachts and other small private boats is an increasing problem

Ms Moreton said: ‘It is now more of a growing issue as the small boat route becomes more and more challenging.

‘It’s something we have started monitoring more closely, but we simply don’t have the staff to do everything.’

She went on: ‘The problem is, most of the ports in the UK do not have a Border Force officer working at them so it comes down to local police forces and members of the public.

‘And the system of boat ownership is very hard to monitor, small boats have transponders switched on to avoid getting hit by bigger boats but they can always switch them off.

Migrants on the beach at Gravelines, northern France, earlier this month

Migrants have begun waiting for ‘taxi boats’ which sail down the French coast to avoid being intercepted by local police

‘All the unmanned ports have posters which say “if you see anything which looks suspicious call this number”, but that’s about it when it comes to security.

‘What’s happening with small yachts now speaks to the desperation of the people trying to cross the Channel and the pull the UK has.’

Fees paid to smuggling gangs to enter the UK on a yacht will be far higher than the amounts charged for a place in a dangerous and ovcercrowded dinghy. 

Entering Britain clandestinely in a yachts or other small vessel will also be attractive to foreign nationals with a criminal record.

Those who have previously made a failed asylum claim here, or have been deported, may also wish to avoid detection by the authorities.

Albanian nationals, such as those found aboard the Tacoma, face fast-track removal measures back to their home country under an agreement signed by former home secretary Priti Patel in 2022.

Migrants on the French beaches earlier this year. The ISU union says rather than using small boats, growing numbers of migrants are coming to the UK aboard small private craft such as yachts

In another case in September last year, nine Iranian passengers were caught illegally attempting to enter the UK on board a pleasure boat near Brixham, Devon.

Some criminal gangs have been caught in the act attempting to use yachts to cross the Channel by the National Crime Agency (NCA), dubbed ‘Britain’s FBI’.

A Georgian national, Igor Romanovi, was jailed in France in 2023 following an investigation by the NCA and French authorities into an organised crime group suspected of using pleasure boats to smuggle migrants across the Channel.

A boat operated by the group was involved in a smuggling run which saw 11 migrants brought to shore in Rye, East Sussex in February 2022.

And, in 2021 a different gang was jailed for planning to smuggle 69 Albanian migrants into the UK on a fishing vessel. They had planned to bring in 50 more every week.

Small ports and airfields were first identified as a potential weakness in Britain’s border security measures as long ago as 2002.

Lord Carlile of Berriew KC, then the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, warned they were the ‘soft underbelly’ of Britain’s war against terrorism.

Concerns about the vulnerability of Britain’s coastline were raised in two reports in 2010 and 2011 by John Vine, the then independent inspector of borders. Both found small ports were at risk from people smuggling.

The warnings were repeated by terror watchdog David Anderson in 2017. 

An NCA spokesman confirmed the ‘clandestine manner’ of entering Britain may appeal to those with criminal pasts.

‘We have seen cases where organised crime groups have used larger maritime vessels, such as fishing boats and yachts, to facilitate entry for migrants,’ he said.

‘Often these are used by those who may be prepared to pay more to avoid contact with law enforcement, in contrast to small boats where migrants and their smugglers seek contact to enter the asylum system.

‘The NCA, alongside our law enforcement partners, have undertaken a number of operations which have seen people involved in this form of people smuggling arrested and prosecuted.

‘Bringing people to the UK in this way remains dangerous and also risks our border security.

‘Tackling organised immigration crime in all its forms remains a priority for the NCA, and we would ask anyone who lives or works around the coast or in a maritime environment to report suspicious activity to the police.’

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We will stop at nothing to dismantle vile people-smuggling gangs, which is why our new maritime directorate within Border Force is explicitly focused on general maritime security to uphold the integrity of the border.

‘Through close collaboration across agencies, Border Force will have access to better intelligence, joint operational activity and better engagement with international partners.

‘This will ultimately enhance our approach to dealing with irregular migration, including illegal activity involving yachts, and further help to tackle people smuggling gangs.’

end