Border Force staff in diphtheria alert after surge of cases among small boat migrants arriving in Britain
ON ALERT Border Force staff in diphtheria alert after surge of cases among small boat migrants arriving in Britain
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BORDER Force staff are being offered diphtheria jabs amid a surge of cases among Channel migrants arriving into Britain.
Workers on the Dover frontline have been warned the highly contagious disease is becoming 'rampant' in the French camps where asylum seekers gather.
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Cops in Gravelines take selfies with a slashed dinghy
Credit: LNP
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Migrants set off in a boat for Britain
Credit: LNP
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Arrivals at a Border Force compound on British soil
Credit: PA
And there are fears of a repeat of 2022 when an outbreak at the Manston processing centre in Kent left one person dead and many others in hospital.
Last night Border Force staff union chief Lucy Moreton said: 'All staff are now being offered vaccinations against diphtheria. At least one person with a suspected case is coming across every day.
'Migrants are medically assessed before being searched and anyone with symptoms is separated from the rest of the group.
'It's rampant in the crowded camps and spreading due to poor sanitation. But they are avoiding getting medical treatment while in France and instead wait to get treated when they come to the UK.
'One of the big draws to this country is the NHS. People are arriving every day who are motivated by getting medical treatment. Border Force staff are putting themselves at risk but most just see that as part of the job.'
Most people in the UK are vaccinated against diphtheria, which attacks the respiratory system, as babies.
But boosters can be given if the last jab was more than ten years ago.
Europe is currently experiencing its largest diphtheria outbreak for 70 years.
There have been two deaths and 536 cases across the continent since 2022, according to France's public health agency and medical research foundation Pasteur Institute.
The contagion has mainly hit Afghan and Syrian migrants, with 98 per cent of infections in men with an average age of 18.
Case of highly-contagious and deadly disease diphtheria confirmed at UK primary school with parents given urgent warning
Adnan — a 21-year-old living in a tent in the squalid Loon-Plage camp after fleeing Syria — told The Sun on Sunday: 'Lots of people are ill.
'It goes around so easily because we live so close together and share the same facilities.
'Most of us are not protected as we're from poor countries. I worry about catching something which could kill me.'
The Home Office confirmed that all Border Force staff are being encouraged to ensure they are up to date with the UK routine vaccination schedule.
It goes around so easily because we live so close together and share the same facilities
Adnan, a 21-year-old living in a tent in the squalid Loon-Plage camp after fleeing Syria
It insisted all individuals arriving in the UK by small boats are assessed by healthcare professionals and any potential infectious diseases managed through established protocols.
Meanwhile fears rose that there is nothing to stop small-boat migrants returned to France under the one-in, one-out deal from simply crossing the Channel again.
They will be flown to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris — already a vast travel hub for thousands of immigrants, including many who enter Europe illegally.
The issue was highlighted by French mayors angry at the scheme hammered out by PM Sir Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron.
It is due to start with around 50 illegal migrants a week sent back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with proven family ties to Britain.
So far this year at least 21,690 migrants have arrived by boat — around 1,000 a week.
An Interior Ministry source in Paris who has studied the small print said: 'Once at the airport, it will be our responsibility to redirect the migrants to reception processing centres.
'They will stay there for a maximum of one month, where they can apply for asylum in France.'
Technically, failed asylum seekers can be deported to their country of origin, or to the EU country where they first arrived.
But the source said that even if this happens, 'nothing will prevent them from resuming their attempts to get to Britain'.
Many will be processed in the greater Paris region — meaning they will still be close to the beaches of northern France.
'Hostages to agreement'
The British Government argues that flights back to Paris will act as a deterrent, but the French capital is already a popular transit post for thousands hoping to reach the UK.
Pierre-Edouard Davies, mayor of Wissant, near Calais, said: 'This is not going in the right direction. It is inhumane to choose migrants and send the others back to us. They are human beings — treating them like this is appalling and disrespectful.
Migrants are medically assessed before being searched and anyone with symptoms is separated from the rest of the group. It's rampant in the crowded camps and spreading due to poor sanitation
Lucy Moreton, Border Force staff union chief
'We asked to be heard by the British Parliament, by the French President and the British Prime Minister, and we received no response.'
Guy Allemand, mayor of Sangatte, Calais, said: 'We continue to suffer without being listened to.
'We want to convey our daily experiences, but we feel scorned on the subject.
'This lack of consideration is causing anger — not to mention the doubts generated by this agreement.'
Bertrand Ringot, mayor of Gravelines, added: 'The mayors must be heard because it's to us that the population is turning.
'We are hostages to this agreement.'
He called for reception centres to be 'shared out' across France.
Stéphane Pinto, mayor of Ambleteuse, said the need for the deal to be ratified by the European Commission — plus inevitable challenges from human rights lawyers — could mean it is years before it is implemented.
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Lucy Moreton said: 'All staff are now being offered vaccinations against diphtheria. At least one person with a suspected case is coming across every day'
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