The most people recorded on a single day this season so far this year were more than 1,100 migrants crossing the English Channel from France, according to UK government figures released on Sunday. According to the most recent Home Office statistics, 1, 194 migrants arrived in 18 ships on Saturday in what were settled climate conditions, bringing the temporary yearly total so far to 14, 811. That’s 42 % higher than the same point last year, which has put pressure on the Labour government since coming to power almost a year ago, in part due to despair with the earlier conservative administration’s efforts to control the amounts crossing. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his state would gain control by destroying the criminals and the business concepts that support their smuggling operations after abandoning the Liberal administration’s plan to send migrants who arrived in the UK by using illicit means to Rwanda. Since gaining strength, Starmer’s government has pushed for better international cooperation in terms of intelligence-sharing, increased enforcement efforts in northwestern France, and enacted tougher immigration laws. Authorities were therefore pictured escorting the boats as they boarded at a beachfront in Gravelines, between Calais and Dunkirk. 184 people were rescued, according to French government. Defense Secretary John Healey told Sky News,” Those scenes yesterday were quite surprising. He added that the French authorities are unable to act to catch ships in deep waters, which is a “huge problem,” and that the UK is pressing for them to implement new laws to allow them to do thus. They’re not doing it, he said, but for the first day in a long time, we’ve got the required level of cooperation, he said. We’ve come to terms with changing the way they operate, and our task at hand is to make sure they start operating so they can catch these smugglers and put them in the canoes, not just on the beach. The cross-Channel path, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, continues to be a big smuggling passageway for people fleeing conflict or poverty despite European and British efforts. Many migrants choose the UK because of its speech, family, or perceived easier access to work and hospital. The home office says 36, 816 people arrived in the UK on small boats in 2024, 25 % more than in 2023 ( 29, 437 ). The highest amount of visitors was in 2022, with 45, 774.
