Home Office spends thousands of pounds on pizzas, kebabs, and other food to help the unprecedented number of migrants that arrived in Britain yesterday.
Officials ordered 3,000 chicken shish for £14.50 from four Turkish restaurants dotted across Kent as well hundreds of pizzas from the Domino’s in Dover.
According to staff, they had to rush for the large order of morning and evening meals that was being prepared for the Tug Haven Border Force camp’s residents.
After risking their lives on small boats through the English Channel, a record 1185 people arrived in Britain on Thursday.
French officials, Border Force, and lifeboat crews spent the entire day intercepting ships in Dover Strait.
Three people, despite all their best efforts, are still at risk of being lost at sea. Two kayaks that were left adrift near Calais have led to the discovery of three others.
Officials ordered 3,000 chicken shish for £14.50 from four Turkish restaurants dotted across Kent as well hundreds of pizzas from the Domino’s in Dover (pictured today)
According to staff, they felt rushed while preparing the large order of morning and evening meals that was being served at Tug Haven Border Force Camp (pictured today).
Today, officials placed a massive order for food to be delivered to migrants at four Aspendos Turkish restaurant dotted throughout Kent.
Pictures show the mess that was left behind at the camp by migrants who were handed hundreds of Domino’s Pizzas from Dover.
A huge order was placed today by officials for the provision of meals to four Aspendos Turkish restaurants scattered across Kent.
They asked for 270 meals this morning and 270 more in the evening from the Dover branch, while also placing requests at stores in Deal, Folkestone and Ashford.
Migrants will be fed chicken shish kebabs, which are served as ‘marinated cubes of chicken grilled on charcoal grill’ and cost £14.50 each.
They will also be given sides including rice, which is an extra £3, and bread, which adds another £2, meaning each meal is worth £19.50.
MailOnline was told by an Aspendos employee that they were “rushed to our deaths.” Although there are many things to do, we will get there.
The restaurant, which bills its food as ‘a diverse menu filled with delightful dishes’, also sells a family special which feeds four to five people for £55.
The following items are available to the punters: lamb shish and chicken shish; two kofte Kebabs; four lamb chops; eight lamb ribs; eight chicken wings; eight lamb ribs. Humus, cacik, tarama, olives.
On its website, the restaurant chain states that it “brings an authentic Turkish taste to diners across Kent”. Google reviews give it a score of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
The word Aspendos comes from an ancient Greco-Roman city in Antalya province of Turkey, also known as Aspendus.
Border Force employees were seen helping unload approximately 1,000 at Tug Haven, a temporary holding facility. They moved them from a van to a cart and then over to base.
They requested 270 meals from Dover’s branch this morning, and an additional 270 for the evening. Additionally, they placed requests at Ashford, Folkestone, and Deal stores.
They will also be given sides including rice, which is an extra £3, and bread, which adds another £2, meaning each meal is worth £19.50
Aspendos, which bills its food as ‘a diverse menu filled with delightful dishes’, also sells a family special which feeds four to five people for £55
Aspendos, which bills its food as ‘a diverse menu filled with delightful dishes’, also sells a family special which feeds four to five people for £55
Meanwhile pictures show a huge mess left at the camp after migrants were given hundreds of Domino’s pizzas from the Dover branch.
Stacks of empty boxes were shoved in bin bags and left along with other rubbish by the holding area, with one Mighty Meaty – which cost up to £17.99 – strewn all across the ground with the garlic dip still sealed.
One of the orders contained a note that stated: “This was an urgent need for food to feed large numbers of migrants who had been at the Tug Haven compound, Dover for more than 12 hours and would likely stay longer due to problems blocking their movement and Irc. [immigration removal centre] estate.’
Another added: ‘Purchased by Clandestine Operational Response Team (Cort) for use at Tug Haven where we have migrants arriving on small boats.
“Due to high numbers of immigrants arriving, and how long they hadn’t eaten in the past, we agreed to buy 200 pizzas.”
Local lorry driver said that he was able to hear the migrants laughing as they drove past last night.
According to the Home Office spokesperson, “We’re committed to providing the highest value for money for British taxpayers.”
“We scrutinize all expenditures to ensure that taxpayers spend every dollar in the most efficient way.”
Stacks of empty boxes were shoved in bin bags and left along with other rubbish by the holding area, with one Mighty Meaty – which cost up to £17.99 – strewn all across the ground with the garlic dip still sealed
Local lorry driver said that he was able to hear the migrants laughing as they drove past last night.
A trolley with empty crisp boxes is parked outside of the temporary housing for exhausted migrants at Dover, Kent.
On Thursday, 1,185 people reached Britain after putting their lives at risk by boarding small boats on the English Channel. It was a record breaking number and a first for the day.
After risking their lives on small boats through the English Channel and a possible death, 1,185 people arrived in Britain on Thursday. This is a record number for one day.
French officials, Border Force and lifeboat crews spent the entire day intercepting the boats at Dover Strait.
Three people, however, are now at risk of being lost at sea, after two kayaks were discovered adrift off Calais.
The Home Office confirmed Thursday’s total as being the highest daily arrivals in the current crisis. It is higher than the 853 record set earlier this month.
According to the data from the PA news agency, more than 23500 people are now in the UK having crossed the English Channel aboard small boats.
Over 2,400 migrants have crossed into Britain in the past seven days, the highest number of people to cross the border since the crisis began and the largest crossings made during 2019.
The Channel is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. It has been responsible for two deaths in recent weeks.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Shadow Home Secretary, called upon Priti Patel, Home Secretary to “stop blaming other people” over crossings.
His tweet read: “Time and again, we continue to hit new records in crossings – people are risking their lives making this dangerous journey. The Home Secretary needs to accept responsibility for his actions and not blame others.
Record breaking 1,000 people arrived in Britain in one day, after they risked their lives on small boats through the English Channel. This brings the total for November to 3,000. (Photo: Yesterday)
On Thursday, a young girl in a red jacket was brought ashore at Dover. She was one of many people who were being taken in from the sea.
The Border Force and Lifeboat boats, as well the Border Force crews were busier into the evening. They had spent hours intercepting vessels in Dover Straight all day.
Thursday’s record surpasses that of 853 established earlier in this month.
Coastguard personnel brought in a group of migrants to Dover (Kent) yesterday
One hundred people were picked up at sea, and a small girl wearing a red jacket, was seen getting carried onto the Dover docks.
As they processed hundreds of arrivals, the Kent harbor border officials were bustling past midnight.
You could hear the children’s cries as they waited in the cold November air, which added to the hustle and bustle of the busy port.
Further down the coast, RNLI picked up more people at Hastings beach in East Sussex.
Steve Valdez Symonds is Amnesty International UK’s director for refugee rights and migration. He said that many people who make these dangerous sea crossings do so because they don’t have legal or safe routes, but also because their family members and connections are here.
“Instead of making a pretended ‘national crisis’ by seizing these visible crossings, in their efforts to justify new draconian asylum policies, the ministers need to work constructively with French authorities and provide secure access to asylum processes on both sides.
“With its current approach to government, it is deliberately endangering the people it should have been helping.” These cruel tactics should be stopped.
Dover’s border officers were working late on Thursday night to process all the arrivals.
For the fall chill, children were wrapped up in blankets and jackets, while others carried their own bags.
Even further up the coast, there were more people reported to have arrived at Hastings beach following being picked-up by the RNLI
Yesterday’s 1,000 arrivals mean the figure for this year is almost 24,000 – close to three times as many as in 2020
Jon Featonby is the British Red Cross’ refugee and asylum policy director. He said that no one puts his life in danger unless they feel absolutely desperate or have no other choices.
“It’s a life-threatening, brutal journey, particularly in winter.
“There is no easy answer, but we ask the government to reconsider its plans. The Nationality and Borders Bill, as it stands now, will make the UK’s asylum system more harsh and ignore the reason why so many people travel to dangerous places.
2019 Home Secretary, Ms Patel pledged to make migrants crossings an “infrequent phenomena” by spring 2020. She then promised in August that she would’make it unviable’.
The Government of France has offered to pay millions to France to improve security along its northern coast.
Sometimes, disagreements between France and the UK over the expectations of the Governments have led to sharp words being exchanged over the Dover Strait.
Earlier this year, Ms Patel threatened to withhold the £54 million promised to France to help stop crossings unless more people were prevented from reaching the UK.
On Friday, Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont spoke to BBC News. He stated: “We have hundreds of police officers, gendarmerie, patrolling. But we also have 300 to 400 kms of shoreline to monitor each night. It’s impossible to stop all crossings.
Even though there are more small boat arrivals to the UK, it still has far fewer asylum applications and boat arrivals per capita than some of its European peers.
Source: Data from UNHCR. This year’s data shows that at least 100.907 refugees have arrived via land or sea in Europe through the Mediterranean.
According to these same statistics, at least 1 313 persons are believed to have died or gone missing.