Preliminary statistics released Thursday show that the number of migrants reaching Britain via small boats across the English Channel has surpassed 30,000 this year.
These figures surface as the newly elected Labour government faces increasing pressure to manage the migrant influx, despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pre-election pledge to dismantle the criminal networks behind illegal migration.
According to the Home Office, around 30,431 migrants have crossed from northern France, arriving on Britain’s southeastern shores in 2024.
On Wednesday alone, 564 individuals arrived in 12 boats, pushing October’s total arrivals to approximately 5,200, marking one of the highest monthly totals recorded.
In 2023, close to 30,000 migrants crossed the Channel, a decrease from the record 45,774 migrants recorded in 2022, despite the Channel’s status as one of the world’s busiest and most dangerous shipping lanes.
Limiting Channel crossings has been a central issue in recent UK election campaigns. Anti-immigration Reform Party leader Nigel Farage saw his near single-issue campaign win close to four million votes, a historic success for a far-right UK party.
Days after taking office, Starmer halted the Conservative Party’s controversial Rwanda migrant relocation scheme and pledged decisive action against human smuggling networks.
Martin Hewitt has since been appointed to lead the newly formed Border Security Command, overseeing this critical issue.
Tragically, dozens of migrants have died in attempts to cross the Channel in small, often unseaworthy boats this year.
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