On Saturday, some 1,194 migrants arrived in the UK after traversing the Channel in small boats, establishing a new record for this year, according to AFP’s compilation of government data. This influx brings the cumulative number of migrant crossings this year to an unprecedented 14,808, despite various measures implemented by both the French and UK governments to curtail these journeys.
French coastal authorities additionally reported rescuing nearly 200 migrants between late Friday and late Saturday. The latest crossings, which UK Defence Secretary John Healey described as “shocking,” although falling short of the all-time record of 1,300 migrants arriving on small boats in a single day in September 2022, will nonetheless present a significant challenge for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer has been striving to toughen his rhetoric on irregular immigration amidst mounting pressure from the far right to reduce migrant numbers.
“We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security,” the Home Office stated in an official announcement regarding the recent arrivals. This month, Starmer unveiled stringent new immigration policies, including doubling the length of time migrants must wait to qualify for settlement in the country and introducing new powers to deport foreign criminals. This comprehensive set of measures was widely perceived as an attempt to regain voter support and counter threats from the increasingly popular hard-right Reform party. Separate legislation aimed at tackling irregular immigration, known as the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, is currently progressing through parliament.
However, Saturday’s crossings will undoubtedly deliver a fresh blow. The overall figure of 14,808 crossings represents the highest total for the first five months of the year since records began in 2018, when this route to the UK first gained prominence. It also surpassed the record for the number of crossings in the first six months of the year, which stood at approximately 12,900 in the first half of 2024.
‘Shocking’
On Saturday, a total of 184 individuals were rescued in four distinct operations off the French coast, as stated by the maritime prefecture for France’s Channel and northern region. In one instance, the engine of an inflatable dinghy carrying 61 people malfunctioned. In another, nine individuals on a boat called for assistance. According to an AFP tally of official figures, 15 people have tragically died so far this year attempting to cross the Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
“Pretty shocking, those scenes yesterday,” Healey told Sky News in an interview on Sunday. “We saw the smugglers launching elsewhere and coming around like a taxi to pick them up,” he said, adding that “Britain’s lost control of its borders.” This year, France agreed to permit its police patrols to intercept migrants in shallow waters, but they are currently unable to stop a boat once it has commenced its journey into deeper waters.
“We’ve got the agreement (with the French) that they will change the way they work,” Healey explained. “Our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation.” Healey also told the BBC: “What we now need is to work more closely with the French to persuade them to put that into operation so they can intervene in the water, in the shallow waters, which they don’t at the moment.”
