The French Maritime Prefect said it had received reports of several migrant vessels departing on Saturday.

At about 10.50am, four people are reported to have fallen in the sea in the Sangatte area. They were recovered from the water, all four of them suffering from hypothermia.

At 2.14pm, another small boat suffered from engine failure and 28 migrants were recovered before the vessel restarted and continued its journey across the Channel.

The prefect said in a statement: “Given the structural fragility of systematically overloaded boats, the choice is made not to force migrants to embark on the (French) state’s rescue means, to avoid endangering their lives in the event of a shipwreck.”

The Sunday Express revealed the Home Office is so desperate for failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals to leave voluntarily that they are being offered help launching their own companies as well as having accommodation for “up to five nights” in their home country.

People removed to a host of countries, including Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Jamaica, can also request someone to meet them at the airport and receive help “finding and reuniting” with family members.

This has stirred fears Britain is seen as a “soft-touch” by bankrolling “luxury repatriation retreats”.

With Labour trying to ramp up the number of migrants leaving voluntarily, the number receiving support in their home countries is set to soar.

The organisation contracted by the Government, IRARA, proudly declares it offers “visa application support” services. This includes help with work visas, family visas, citizenship applications, study visas and visitor visas.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This shows that Labour’s UK is a soft touch. Instead of frog-marching illegal immigrants onto a plane, the government is offering them special treatment.

“If being here illegally does not carry serious consequences, then more and more illegal immigrants will keep coming in. If we pull out of the ECHR, we will be able to rapidly and forcibly deport all illegal immigrants without needing to offer taxpayer-funded bribes to persuade them to leave voluntarily.”

Government contracts, seen by the Sunday Express, reveal how the UK is funding accommodation for up to five nights in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

This can be extended for another five nights if migrants need extra help.

The UK is also willing to pay for “onward” transportation across the 10 countries and “food packs” for failed asylum seekers, immigration offenders and foreign criminals booted out of Britain.

Officials will also provide “family tracing and reunification services”.

And migrants are being offered access to a “Returnee Education and Entrepreneurship fund” for “support with setting up a business” or “support with accessing vocational training or further education”.

Failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals who agree to leave voluntarily are also being offered workshops and “mentorship programmes” to help them boost their skills.

The scheme is carried out by IRARA, an organisation with a headquarters in Brussels.

A video directed at migrants being returned from the UK declares: “When you arrive home, you will be met by an IRARA representative, who is there to help you. Our team members can help you with any immediate support you need, this could include immediate accommodation, medical signposting or transport.

“Once you’ve been home for a short while, we will meet with you to discuss your current situation, your skills and your needs.

“Together, we will develop a tailored reintegration plan. IRARA can help you apply for a job, set up a business, access training or enrol in education.

“Once you’ve created a reintegration plan that you are happy with, IRARA applies for a grant on your behalf and once it is approved, we take care of all the payments to the suppliers and vendors so you can quickly and easily get started.”

The organisation also works with interior departments across Europe.

Reform’s Lee Anderson told the Sunday Express: “This taxpayer-funded farce is an outrageous use of public cash. It is not the responsibility of the British government to bankroll luxury repatriation retreats for foreign nationals – many of which will have been deported – so they can ‘rebuild their lives’ back home.

“This is yet another example of soft-touch Britain that Labour and the Tories have created. The signal we are sending to the world is catastrophic: commit the crime, and you’ll get the red-carpet treatment on your way out. This must end.”

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith, said: “Putting British entrepreneurs out of business with high taxes only to use that taxpayers’ money to help migrants set up businesses in foreign lands is the sort of madness we’ve come to expect from the failing Home Office.

“If the migrants were enterprising enough to come here illegally, I’m sure they will be just fine back where they came from but it’s not the job of the British taxpayer either way.

“Thousands of British firms are struggling and would love more support or lower taxes.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “These claims are untrue. This scheme ensures migrants return to their home country, settle and don’t re-enter the UK for a fraction of the price.
“Every asylum seeker that remains in the UK costs the taxpayer around £30,000 a year. The scheme helps to reduce costs for UK taxpayers while we intensify our enforcement action against those with no right to be here – with almost 50,000 removed since the Government came into power.”