Sir Keir Starmer's decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme will lead to an 'open season' for migrants trying to cross the English Channel in small boats, a former Border Force chief has said.
Kevin Saunders, who was the Chief Immigration Officer covering Calais and Dunkirk, claims that up to 60,000 people could try to make the journey from France to England via the perilous route without the plan in place.
The border security expert said that the controversial scheme had acted as a deterrent and that people smugglers in the migrant camps in northern France were happy it was being removed.
He added that those in charge of the smuggling rings were so happy with the new Prime Minister's pledge to stop the flights they had given him a nickname which means 'the friendly one'.
Starmer, who became Prime Minister on Friday after leading Labour to a landslide victory, revealed on Saturday that the Rwanda scheme was 'dead and buried' and he had no intention of seeing it through.
Mr Saunders, who spent 43 years working for the Civil Service before his retirement, said stopping the Rwanda plan without an alternative was a mistake.
He told Times Radio on Saturday: 'The trouble is he [Sir Keir Starmer] is being very negative about Rwanda. Well, that's fine. He's bound to be.
'But we don't have anything from him about how they're going to stop the boats. It's going to be open season.'
The former chief Border Force officer said there could be as many as 60,000 migrants crossing the Channel in small boats this year, which would beat the record figure of 45,774 in 2022.
Mr Saunders said that claims the Rwanda scheme had not been 'effective' in deterring migrants from making the crossing were 'not quite correct'.
'There's been a lot of unease in the camps in northern France about the Rwanda scheme. They were very, very worried. We saw people fleeing to the Republic of Ireland because they didn't want to be included in it,' Mr Saunders said.
'Now, of course, we're seeing that the Kurds over in northern France have come up with a name for Keir, which I think means 'the friendly one', because they all believe that he's going to be very good for illegal migration,' he added
So far this year 13,368 migrants have made the perilous journey, higher than the figure from this time in 2022, leaving it on track to break the record number of arrivals from that year.
The most recent crossings took place on July 1, with poor weather in the English Channel putting the brakes on people smuggling operations who regularly launch boats filled with up to 60 migrants each.
At a press conference following his first cabinet meeting on Saturday afternoon, Starmer confirmed he was ditching the Rwanda scheme, adding he was 'not prepared to continue with gimmicks'.
He said: 'The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It's never been a deterrent.
'Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting.'
He added: 'The chances were of not going and not being processed, and staying here, therefore, in paid-for accommodation for a very, very long time.
'It's had the complete opposite effect and I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent.'
The Prime Minister has said he will curb Channel crossings by hiring specialist investigators and using counter-terror powers to 'smash the criminal gangs' behind the flow of migrants into the UK, but how this will work in practice remains largely unclear.
Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK party won five seats in the general election as he was elected to Parliament as an MP at the eight attempt, criticised Labour's plans.
He said: 'What Keir Starmer is proposing, which is, tackle the gangs, well, frankly, you know, the last Government were doing that for the last few years, it’s not going to work'.
