"they’ve certainly been abused and threatened."
Shabana Mahmood has claimed that nearly every woman arriving in the UK on small boats has been raped on their journey.
The Home Secretary made the claim during an interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast, where she discussed Channel crossings, people trafficking and the treatment of asylum seekers.
Mahmood said criminal gangs were effectively deciding who reaches the UK because traffickers control the movement of people waiting to cross the Channel.
She said: “We’re not in control of this border. 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.
“You can almost guarantee that every woman that’s in the north of France has probably been raped along the journey. Some of the men too, they’ve certainly been abused and threatened.
“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.”
Mahmood also addressed far-right activists who have protested against immigration policies while supporting some of her approach to border security.
Asked by former Labour adviser Alastair Campbell about balaclava-wearing protesters shutting down ports and praising her policies, she said they should “sod off”.
Shabana Mahmood added: “They’re just troublemakers. You know, they’d kill me in a minute if they could, and they’d definitely kick me out of my own country.
“So let’s just be really clear about who and what they are. They don’t think I’m a true Brit and they hate the fact that I’m a Muslim.”
Her comments came as authorities prepared for the possible arrival of another migrant dinghy on the south coast.
The boat was being shadowed by French coastguard and rescue vessels on Sunday as it moved towards the Channel boundary line, according to ship tracking data.
It appeared to have departed from near the Utah Beach area of Normandy earlier that morning.
Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport in Hampshire, said there was “nothing to suggest” the boat would land on the county’s coast.
However, she said police were “making preparations should that situation change”.
A Government spokesperson said: “The Border Security Command works around the clock to monitor the Channel and protect our border.
“It is vital we continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.”
Imran Hussain, a director at the Refugee Council, welcomed Mahmood’s acknowledgement of sexual violence but questioned the Government’s approach to safe and legal routes.
He said: “We know from our services that women and girls fleeing war and persecution face sexual violence both in the conflicts they have escaped and on the journeys they are forced to make in search of safety.
“That is why in welcoming the government’s announcement last week of new safe routes, we called for them not to be limited to a few hundred people.
“Last year, the government closed family reunion, the safe route for refugees, which overwhelmingly benefits women and children.
“It is entirely right to talk about the dangers women face on these journeys but we should not be closing the safe routes that could keep them out of harm’s way. Protecting women means more safe routes, not fewer.”
Watch the Full Interview
