Government under fire as LBC probe reveals Border Force failing to question migrants on people smugglers

Record numbers of migrants continue to cross the Channel in small boats in one of the biggest crises Britain faces. Latest Home Office figures show 674 migrants made the journey in nine boats arriving in the UK on Tuesday, bringing the provisional total for the year so far to 30,838.

But as pressure grows on the government to "stop the boats", LBC can reveal that Border Force is seemingly struggling to properly investigate the criminals smuggling them in.

LBC's Crime Correspondent Andy Hughes spoke to eight asylum seekers in Dover, seven of whom said they were never asked about the method they used to enter the country.

One migrant admitted to handing as much as £5,000 to the people smuggler that brought him across the Channel, but said Border Force officials never asked as they “don’t care”.

“They just send you somewhere to get help and stuff like that. They don’t ask you who sent you, who paid for it, how did you get here?,” he said.

Read more: Channel crossings reach 30,000 this year in record time as new Home Secretary slams 'vile' smugglers

Read more: UK 'ready' to deport 100 migrants 'within weeks' to tackle small-boats crisis

Aram Rawf, a former Labour councillor who now works for a charity that helps Asylum Seekers, confirmed that many of the migrants he deals with were also never asked about people smugglers.

He said: “If they haven't asked the question who is put them on a boat, even that question, how they going to go after the smuggler where they actually haven't asked about it?”

Mr Rawf added this is a win for smugglers, saying it is “just a joke” that officials appear to be failing to crack down on the gangs.

He warned the UK is a “fast track” for migrants, with smugglers encouraging migrants in Calais to make the journey across the Channel.

"Smugglers believe they can get people to tell them 'the UK government is shy to say we can fast track you, you've been waiting 10 years in Belgium, you've been waiting 10 years in France [and] they're not dealing with your case. Give me this amount and money, I'll put you on a boat and UK deal with your case very quickly,'" he said.

Speaking in response to the claims, Mike Tapp, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship, told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: "Every single person that arrives in this country illegally has an interview conducted. That has to happen in order to start processing the case...we're going hard on this."

Meanwhile, ministers grilled by Nick in recent months have failed to answer how many migrants have been interviewed on their entry into the UK, specifically what they might have known about the trafficking networks or the smugglers they've dealt with.

”I can't tell you the precise number of interviews, but I can tell you I have worked very closely in this area,” Paymaster General Thomas Symonds previously told Nick.

“There's a lot of interviews… I wish I could give you the number, I can't,” David Lammy added on a separate occasion.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously promised to “smash the gangs” behind illegal immigration and has called on anyone who can work to do so.

The government recently announced it will give an extra £100m in funding to support the pilot migrant returns deal between Britain and France.

The cash will pay for up to 300 National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and tech to fulfil Labour's manifesto promise to "smash" smuggling gangs.

Deterring signs in asylum seeker camps in France will also be installed.

The NCA told LBC it is has 96 ongoing investigations into groups or individuals involved in high-level organised immigration crime.

It was involved in more than 190 arrests (both in the UK and overseas) for organised immigration crime-related offences over the same period, it added.

During the financial year 2024/25, the NCA led on 347 disruptions against OIC networks, each of which will have removed, prevented or reduced a criminal threat.

56 of those were categorised as ‘high impact’, having the greatest effect against high-level organised criminality.

Since 2015, the NCA has also been involved in more than 2,200 arrests (both in the UK and overseas) with convicted suspects sentenced to more than 1,700 years in prison.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “All small boats arrivals are questioned about how they got to the UK. This is part of a standard screening interview for every individual who arrives by small boat seeking asylum.

“Border force staff do a demanding job each and every day, with the highest level of professionalism and dedication. Their work is dismantling criminal gangs, keeping our communities safe and protecting our borders.”