by Larry Neild
LONDON, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Royal Navy warships should be used to patrol the waters around Britain, the chair of a powerful House of Commons committee said Wednesday.
Keith Vaz, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, was commenting after a report from his committee showed the number of Border Force patrol ships on duty in coastal waters was "worryingly low".
The committee has been investigating a Europe-wide failure to anticipate and tackle "colossal" migration crisis.
"Criminal gangs continue to exploit weaknesses in security at small ports in Britain to illegally transport migrants from the continent. Despite maritime security being critical to an island nation, Border Force is operating worryingly low numbers of vessels to protect our borders. Royal Navy vessels must be used in our sea war against the traffickers," Vaz said.
He described Europe's efforts to address the "colossal" refugee crisis has been lamentable.
"It is horrifying that large numbers of the 85,000 unaccompanied children already in the EU have gone missing shortly after arrival, facing abuse and exploitation. They have become the EU's "disappeared ones". It is unacceptable that the 157 unaccompanied children in Calais with family in the UK have still not arrived here," he said.
The committee said the recent attacks in France demonstrated that terrorists are exploiting the refugee crisis by using the human tragedy as a cloak to re-enter Europe.
"The EU external border must improve security, including deploying specialist equipment to fingerprint and check everyone against security databases. This is not happening. Terrorists do not see borders as barriers to their barbarism," said Vaz.
The Home Office, responsible for interior matters, says it makes use of radar and aerial surveillance and has ordered eight more patrol boats.
Currently Britain has five Border Force vessels, but one has been deployed to the Mediterranean and another is in dock for maintenance.
MPs on the committee also called in Wednesday's report for security to be stepped up at smaller ports around Britain.
Crime agencies in Britain have warned that people smugglers are targeting smaller ports to bring illegal immigrants into Britain away from the bigger high-security ports.
On Security issues, the committee said it is clearly in the interest of all EU countries for there to be effective security checks at EU external borders.
"The UK's own measures since the Paris attacks are welcome, but no country can protect its borders alone. The UK and others need their European neighbors, and the countries on the EU external borders, to take equally rigorous steps," the committee report noted.
"Smaller ports are now being used by criminal gangs to move people between the continent and the UK. UK Border Force has been given a key role in implementing strengthened coastal security measures but it is clearly under-resourced. Royal Navy vessels should be made available to Border Force to make up for shortfalls, where necessary," it added.
