Maaike De Vreese: “We must increase the pressure on transmigration and human smugglers”

MP and Vice-Chair of the Belgian Chamber’s Interior Affairs Committee Maaike De Vreese is calling on Interior Minister Bernard Quintin to take additional measures to tackle the transmigration problem along the West Coast. Due to France’s tougher approach, the issue is increasingly shifting towards Belgium’s coastline.

Rise in interceptions

Maaike De Vreese advocates a firm response:
“Bring together the transmigration task force to draw up a comprehensive action plan with all relevant services — the Maritime Police, local and federal police, Defence, Asylum & Migration and the Maritime Information Crossroads (MIK). While smuggling operations used to take place mainly via our motorways, we are now seeing attempts to cross the Channel from our coast using so-called ‘taxi boats’.”

“We must intercept these boats, ensure sufficient maritime interception and rescue capacity, and place intercepted illegal transmigrants in our closed detention centres. Tent camps are not something we can tolerate here,” says Maaike De Vreese. “The Interior Minister must also urgently secure British financial support, similar to what France receives, to strengthen our fight against human smugglers and help protect our coastline.”

“This year we are seeing a notable increase in the number of interceptions of transmigrants and human smugglers. Smugglers are using ‘taxi boats’ or ‘small boats’, which are launched from our coast to attempt the crossing. These are flimsy vessels that are not seaworthy and therefore create extremely dangerous situations.”

Better cooperation and more maritime capacity

Maaike De Vreese therefore calls for an assessment of how cooperation between the different services can be improved and for joint operations to be organised.

“In France, the judicial authorities have tightened their approach. A legal basis was introduced to intercept these taxi boats at sea as well — a tactic known as ‘boxing in’. We must be ready to do the same.”

“Stepping up the fight against transmigration requires more than detection and interception. It also requires additional maritime capacity, deployable equipment and intervention techniques at sea. We must examine how the Maritime Police and the Maritime Information Crossroads can be further strengthened. Our personnel and services must be able to adapt operationally to this new reality with new techniques — such as using nets to disable the propeller of a small boat or ‘boxing in’ vessels with patrol boats,” says Maaike De Vreese.

British support also needed

“France currently receives £172 million in support from the United Kingdom. The French deploy 1,200 full-time equivalent security personnel every day to combat smuggling operations along their coast, around 730 of whom are paid for by the British. Financial support for Belgium has almost completely dried up. Minister Bernard Quintin must — as former minister Jan Jambon did under the Swedish coalition government — convince his British counterparts to provide support and resources,” Maaike De Vreese concludes.