UK Home Secretary Warns of Widespread Rape in Channel Migrants’ Journey
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood reveals Channel migrant women face rape, as border control remains in criminal hands.
3 min read
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has made a stark admission about the Channel migration system, warning that nearly all women attempting to reach the UK by boat have likely been raped during their journey. Her comments, reported by the British press, highlight a grim reality as criminal trafficking networks control who crosses the Channel.
Mahmood stated, “You can almost guarantee that every woman” waiting in northern France has “probably been raped along the journey.” She also admitted that Britain is “not in control of this border,” as criminal gangs determine who boards the boats heading for the UK.
“The sifting of the people that end up in the north of France and are about to get on a dinghy is done by criminal gangs who are also, by the way, people traffickers,” she said. Mahmood also noted that male migrants face abuse, intimidation, and threats along the route.
Massive police operation in Gosport, UK last night after the authorities brought in another 150 illegal migrants who arrived on dinghies
Her remarks underscore the contradiction at the heart of the Channel system: while Britain claims to control its borders, organized smugglers dictate who reaches British shores. The Home Secretary emphasized that such a system cannot determine who settles in the UK, stating, “That is not the model that should decide whether somebody gets to come to the UK, make this their place of sanctuary and ultimately become one of us.”
The crisis escalated as another large migrant boat reached British waters off Hampshire, bringing the border issue to Gosport. French rescue vessels shadowed the dinghy before two RNLI boats met it in British waters and brought 149 migrants ashore. The Home Office confirmed that those aboard would be transported to Kent for processing and undergo health, biometric, and security checks.
Government officials activated contingency arrangements to ensure the arrivals could be “securely disembarked, checked and processed.” However, the arrival triggered a large anti-migration demonstration near Haslar Marina, where roughly 350 people gathered as the operation unfolded. Police later arrested 12 people on suspicion of offences including assaulting an officer, criminal damage, and drunken disorder.
Protesters shouted against the arrival while flares and scuffles broke out, although police said much of the gathering remained peaceful. The scenes illustrated how illegal Channel crossings have moved beyond Westminster statistics and become a combustible public-order issue in coastal communities.
The core sovereigntist argument remains that a functioning state must decide who enters its territory rather than allowing that decision to emerge from a smuggling network and a rescue operation. The human cost of the Channel route remains severe regardless of political position. On Monday, two men died attempting to cross from Berck in northern France, while other migrants suffered injuries linked to fuel exposure during the attempted journey.
Mahmood’s claim about widespread rape places another grim layer over that reality. It suggests that by the time some women reach northern France, they may already have passed through a transnational trafficking economy in which sexual exploitation, coercion, and violence accompany the promise of illegal entry into Britain.
The Refugee Council seized on that part of Mahmood’s argument from a different direction. Its director Imran Hussain said the answer should include more safe and legal routes so women fleeing war and persecution are not forced into the hands of traffickers in the first place.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
