More immigrants have crossed the English Channel this year than in all of 2023 | United Kingdom | News

Further immigrants have crossed the English Channel this year than in all of last year, official figures show.

Four hundred and twenty-four people made the dangerous journey on Friday (October 25), bringing this year’s total to 29,578.

This compares to 29,437 migrants who entered the UK after crossing the busy sea route in 2023.

The French coast guard has reported 48 migrant deaths so far this year and this week reiterated warnings about how dangerous the journey through the English Channel’s Dover Strait is.

This is the narrowest stretch of the English Channel and is widely recognized as the busiest shipping route in the world.

According to the French coast guard, more than 600 ships pass through there every day and weather conditions are dangerous even when the sea appears calm.

On Thursday, France said it had rescued 76 migrants on three boats after they called for help when they encountered difficulties attempting the journey.

They were taken back to Calais, but several others on two of the boats refused help and, according to a translation of the coastguard statement, a decision was made to allow those remaining to continue their journey given the danger of them being injured or They fell overboard. if the crews intervened.

The rescue came a day after three migrants died and dozens more were rescued when a boat sank trying to reach the UK and just a week after a baby died in another similar incident.

After scrapping the previous government’s Rwanda deterrent, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper vowed to detain more illegal immigrants and carry out a record number of deportations.

He has also vowed to destroy the criminal gangs who make millions from smuggling migrants into the UK in small boats.

A Home Office spokesperson said the Government “will stop at nothing” to dismantle the business models of people smuggling gangs.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer He also wants to pass a new border security bill to give police and border agents anti-terror powers to target smuggling gangs.

Shadow Home Secretary James cleverly saying that small boat arrivals would worsen under Keir Starmer just days after Labor came to power.

He claimed that the scrapping of the Rwanda scheme and an “effective amnesty” for 90,000 illegal arrivals made the UK “a magnet for migrants from around the world”.