Katie Hopkins inadvertently raises over £22,000 for migrant search, rescue and medical aid operation in the Mediterranean

A JustGiving page set up in the wake of The Sun columnist's piece on deploying 'gunships' to tackle 'refuge crisis' she believes is threatening the UK

On Friday 17 April, a column by Katie Hopkins was published by The Sun.

In it, she described migrants desperate to reach Britain following humanitarian disasters in their own countries as “cockroaches” and suggested the government deploy “gunships” to stop them landing on shore.

“NO, I don’t care,” she wrote. “Show me pictures of coffins, show me bodies floating in water, play violins and show me skinny people looking sad. I still don’t care.”

So “hateful” did the Society of Black Lawyers find her piece, that they decided to report her and The Sun's editor David Dinsmore directly to Met police chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Particularly as, seemingly without remorse, she took to the LBC airwaves two days after a public outcry over the thematic content of her column to debate the issue of migrant boats again, cutting off many of the callers that disagreed with her, and giving airtime to those with views inline with her own misguided thinking.

The show was markedly distasteful because it was broadcast hours after news that a boat carrying 700 migrants had capsized off the coast of Libya, drowning hundreds trapped by traffickers in the holds below.

A petition calling for her sacking quickly sprang up, and within days reached its target of 200,000 signatures.

Little did Hopkins know, however, a JustGiving page started by Izzy Saunders – who also started the Change.org motion – was gathering pace at a rate of over 400 per cent the target amount.

Inadvertently, her “hateful” column had the opposite of the desired effect, highlighting the plight of refuges trapped at sea as they attempt to escape crisis.

So far, the page has raised upwards of £22,000 in donations for charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS). Together, the organisations will launch search and rescue operations following the capsized vessel in the Mediterranean on Saturday.

“It’s been amazing to watch those who signed the petition condemning Katie Hopkins’ comments raise more than £10k in just a few hours,” Saunders, 22, told the Huffington Post of the donations.

“Now we’re asking the Sun to put their hands in their pockets and match these donations.”

Donate to MSF and MOAS here.