The UK has announced up to £5 million of extra funding for education programmes for potential migrants, in the hope that it will make them less likely to make the journey across the Channel.
On a visit to Tunisia on Friday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy will unveil new cash for UK-funded projects in countries across the region that could make would-be migrants more employable in their home country.
The money is part of the Government’s attempts to tackle what Mr Lammy called “the root causes of irregular migration”, and it comes just a day after ministers announced a raft of planned new offences to crack down on people smugglers.
Mr Lammy and border security commander Martin Hewitt will meet with their Tunisian counterparts and the Tunisian National Guard, who are using UK night-vision tech to track down small boats at night.
The Foreign Secretary said that “by improving people’s living standards in their home country, they are less likely to make a perilous journey to the UK, enrich criminal gangs in the process and exploit our immigration system.
“The support I am announcing today, alongside UK technology such as drones and night vision goggles, will save lives, bring down migration levels, and help us bear down on those responsible for smuggling migrants into the UK,” he added.
A view of confiscated small boats and outboard motors used to cross the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA)
There will also be up to £1 million for the UN’s assisted voluntary returns and reintegration scheme to return people who have no legal right to be in Tunisia to their home country and support reintegration.
The visit comes the day after the Government outlined plans to that would mean people selling and handling boat parts suspected of being used in migrant Channel crossings could face up to 14 years in prison.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill was introduced to Parliament on Thursday, and contained a raft of new offences and counter-terror powers aimed at helping to stop the smuggling of migrants across the Channel.
Home Office sources said in the last few months there have been instances of “floating crime scenes” where people have acted in such a reckless way people died on board in crushes and drownings.
So far this year more than 1,000 migrants have made the journey to the UK across the English Channel.
A total of 36,816 people were recorded arriving last year, according to Home Office figures.