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21st Aug 2022

TalkTV caller says migrant boats should be drowned by drones armed with darts

Jack Peat

‘There’s a good idea’, host Mike Graham said

A TalkTV caller has provoked a furious response after she advocated for drowning migrant boats in the Channel.

Calling into Mike Graham’s show, Mary from Kent said drones armed with darts should be used to patrol people making the perilous crossing.

“I can’t understand why we don’t concentrate on sabotaging the boats?,” she said.

“A drone with a dart in it, one in there… they can’t really drown, they all have lifejackets on. Can you imagine how hard it is to get the boat launched? Just have a drone with a dart floating around above…”

Last year, a rubber dinghy carrying 34 migrants sank in the English Channel, killing 31 people and an unborn baby.

Among those who died were a 16-year-old and a seven-year-old child. They were mostly Iraqi Kurds but also included an Iranian Kurd, Afghans, Ethiopians, a Somali and an Egyptian.

According to the latest government figures, more than 20,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year.

It is four months since Ms Patel unveiled plans to send migrants to Rwanda to try to deter people from crossings the Channel.

Since then 14,749 have arrived in the UK after making the journey.

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