Kent’s Reform UK-led council will this week announce an “illegal immigration emergency” in the first declaration of its kind. Councillors will demand the Labour UK Government “stops the boats immediately” and provides “full funding” to cover the costs of people arriving in the country illegally.
They will also press for “resilience structures and emergency planning” to get the necessary support to “deal with this crisis”.
Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: “Illegal small boat crossings are not a distant problem for Kent. Our residents see the consequences every single day. Declaring an illegal migrant emergency recognises the reality on the ground and sends a clear message that enough is enough. Local communities here in Kent cannot be expected to shoulder the burden of a crisis created by years of failure in Westminster.”
A motion will go before councillors on Thursday which states that Kent is at the “forefront of this invasion”. It alleges residents and taxpayers in the county have suffered financial costs as well as “consequences” affecting crime, culture and community cohesion.
Official figures show more than 68,000 people have come to the UK via small boats since Labour took power in July 2024, with over 3,400 arriving so far this year.
The motion going before councillors states this “represents a failure of the state under both national Labour and Conservative administrations” and lists Reform’s plans to halt illegal migration. These include “detaining and deporting all those who arrive in the UK via small boats” as well as leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. It states the party plans to “pick up illegal migrants out of boats and return them to France”, create a new Department for Immigration, introduce “rapid offshore asylum processes” and “deport all foreign criminals”.
The declaration is intended to focus “attention on Kent’s specific needs in this crisis, and put pressure on the ineffective Labour government to take meaningful action”.
A Home Office spokesperson defended Labour’s record, saying: “This Government inherited a broken immigration system, and since coming into office we have stopped over 40,000 crossing attempts and removed or deported almost 60,000 people. The Home Secretary recently laid down new measures to revoke accommodation and support payments for many asylum seekers, alongside a raft of tough new measures to make the UK a less attractive place for illegal migrants. We will not stop until migration is under control once again.”
The Refugee Council and Refugee Action were invited to comment.
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