Suella Braverman claims asylum seekers who come on small boats are drug dealers and traffickers

Home Secretary says ‘unprecedented levels of illegal migration are totally unacceptable to our country and to our values’

Migrants who come to the UK across the English Channel in small boats “possess values which are at odds with our country” with “heightened levels of criminality,” Suella Braverman has said.

“I think that uncontrolled and unprecedented levels of illegal migration are totally unacceptable to our country and to our values,” she told LBC.

Asked whether she agreed with immigration minister Robert Jenrick’s view that uncontrolled migration “threatens to cannibalise the compassion of the British public”, the Home Secretary said: “I think that the people coming here illegally do possess values which are at odds with our country.

“We are seeing heightened levels of criminality when related to the people who’ve come on boats related to drug dealing, exploitation, prostitution.

“There are real challenges which go beyond the migration issue of people coming here illegally. We need to ensure that we bring an end to the boat crossings.”

Mr Jenrick had said on Tuesday that “astronomical” numbers of migrants were crossing the Channel to the UK and raised concerns about how the “different lifestyles” of people arriving could undermine “cultural cohesiveness”.

The home secretary said her claim about Channel migrants being more likely to be criminals was based on information from police chiefs.

Ms Braverman said while “not all” migrants are becoming involved in criminality, “it is becoming a notable feature of everyday crime-fighting in England and Wales”.

She did not say whether she had figures to support the assertion. But the home secretary was asked whether it was based on empirical evidence, adding: “I consider police chiefs experts in their field and authoritative sources of information.”

Ms Braverman also confirmed on Wednesday that Sudanese refugees who arrive in the UK on small boats will have “come here illegally” and face deportation.

The Home Secretary said those fleeing the conflict in Sudan would be detained and could be removed to Rwanda under the government’s Illegal Migration Bill.

“There is no good reason for anybody to get into a small boat and cross the channel in search of a life in the UK,” Ms Braverman said when asked what will happen to Sudanese asylum seekers arriving in the country.

Her comments come after The Independent reported that Sudanese refugees face being criminalised and deported because there are no safe and legal routes for those fleeing the conflict.

The British government is not planning to set up a bespoke scheme for the country like those used for Ukraine and Afghanistan and is only evacuating British citizens and embassy staff.

Almost 4,000 Sudanese small-boat migrants have crossed the English Channel since 2020, and they are already the eighth-highest nationality using the route.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said on Tuesday that number would “likely” increase because of the crisis. He urged those fleeing the conflict to “seek sanctuary in the first safe country they reach”.

The home secretary told Sky News on Wednesday there were “various mechanisms” for those fleeing Sudan to seek asylum in the UK. “The UNHCR is present in the region, and they are the right mechanism by which people should apply if they want to seek asylum in the UK,” she said.

There is no asylum visa for people wanting to reach the UK legally, and it is unclear how people could practically apply for other types of visa and take commercial flights to Britain amid the chaos in Khartoum.

Backbench Conservative MPs including Tim Loughton have urged the government to commit to setting up safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to arrive in the UK without travelling by small boat.

Ms Braverman, whose Illegal Migration Bill returns to Parliament on Wednesday, has said the bill is needed because “we are seeing an unacceptable level of people coming here illegally”.