Mr Smith, an ex-Border Force chief was asked by Ruth Edwards MP about footage that has been widely shared on social media this week. The Rushcliffe MP said: ‘It appears to show a French naval vessel accompanying a migrant dinghy with migrants in it from French waters into British waters, which I think surprised a lot of people because they thought they would be accompanying them back to France. ‘Could you just clarify for us what is actually going on in those images and what the legal position is?’ Mr Smith replied that interdiction on the high seas is an ‘extraordinarily difficult area’. He added: ‘The international law is that health and safety must come first and any vessel that sees another vessel that’s in that state with women and children on board, with no navigation equipment, at risk of drowning should immediately take measures to take them on board. ‘As I understand it though, the migrants are resisting any indication that they would be prepared to be rescued from a small dinghy by a French vessel.
‘They want to be rescued by a British vessel and so we need to be agile, we need to see what is going on and we need to be quickly ready and able to adapt and that’s my main concern.’
Migrants from France Part 16
