Ministers are expected to set out a plan to reduce the number of unauthorised migrants entering the UK via the Channel, as the total for 2022 passes a record 40,000.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the plan will include measures to cut the use of hotels to house migrants arriving on the beaches of Kent after making the perilous crossing from France.
Ministers are understood to be looking at using large sites like holiday parks, student accommodation blocks or even cruise ships to house migrants.
Meanwhile, home secretary Suella Braverman is expected to announce the conclusion of a new deal with Paris, which will see the UK pay £60m to increase the number of patrols on French beaches.
For the first time, British Border Force officials are expected to be stationed in joint control centres on French soil to observe operations and share live intelligence.
Also understood to feature in the 10-point plan is a fast-track deportation scheme for Albanians, to assess asylum applications and remove failed claimants within days. Ministers will also promise a drive to reduce the 130,000 backlog of claims waiting to be processed.
And ministers are proposing to rewrite Theresa May’s Modern Slavery Act to prevent its alleged abuse by Albanian migrants to extend their stay in the UK.
Reforms could include raising the threshold of proof for a claim to be considered, restricting last-minute claims or a change in the law to disapply Albanians from eligibility to claim to be victims of modern slavery.
Mr Jenrick told the Sunday Telegraph: “Those coming from safe countries such as Albania – whose citizens account for 30 per cent of illegal crossings this year – must see that crossing the Channel in small boats is not a path to a life here.
“The record number of arrivals, and the prospect of further increases, require us to overhaul the system to ensure our laws are appropriate.”
And he added: “We need to ensure that our modern slavery laws are fit for purpose and cannot be exploited by illegitimate claimants.
“The number of people claiming to be a victim of modern slavery is at an all-time high and the UK attracts more than 10 times the number of modern slavery claims compared with France and Germany.”
At least eight councils have taken or are considering legal action to block the use of hotels, of which there are now thought to be about 200 funded by the Home Office, to house as many as 37,000 migrants.
The biggest surge has been among Albanians, accounting for 12,000, or nearly a third of the arrivals this year.
