More migrants have crossed the English Channel this year than in all of 2023 | UK

More migrants crossed the English Channel this year than last year, official figures show.

Four hundred and twenty-four people made the dangerous crossing on Friday, October 25, bringing the total for this year to 29,578.

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

The French coastguard has reported 48 migrant deaths so far this year and repeated warnings this week about how dangerous the journey through the Channel’s Strait of Dover 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 every day and weather conditions are dangerous, even when the sea appears calm.

On Thursday, France said it had rescued 76 migrants in three boats after they called for help when they encountered difficulties during their journey.

They were taken back to Calais, but several others on two of the boats refused assistance, and according to a translation of the coastguard statement, it was decided to let those who remained continue their journey, given the danger of being injured or falling overboard traps. when the crew intervened.

The rescue came a day after three migrants died and dozens of others were rescued when a boat sank trying to reach Britain, and just a week after a baby was killed in another similar incident.

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

She has also vowed to destroy the criminal gangs who make millions smuggling migrants to Britain in small boats.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government will “refrain” from dismantling the business models of people smuggling gangs.

Prime Minister sir Keir Starmer also wants to pass a new border security law to give police and border agents counter-terrorism powers to tackle smuggling gangs.

Shadow Home Secretary James Slim said that small boat arrivals would get worse under Keir Starmer, just days after Labor came to power.

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