The number of migrants reaching the UK in small boats in a single day hits a 2025 high
LONDON AP U K administration figures Sunday manifested that more than foreigners arrived in the country on Saturday in small boats from France across the English Channel the highest number recorded on a single day so far this year The latest Home Office figures show that displaced persons arrived in boats on Saturday in what were settled weather conditions bringing the provisional annual total so far to That s higher than the same point last year an increase that has piled pressure on the Labour regime which returned to power nearly a year ago partly on disillusionment with the previous Conservative administration s efforts to get a grip on the the numbers making the traversing Having ditched the Conservative establishment s plan to send transients who arrived in the U K by unauthorized means to Rwanda Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared his cabinet would get control by smashing the gangs and the business models that sustain their smuggling operations Since gaining power Starmer s authorities has sought better intelligence-sharing internationally enhanced enforcement operations in northern France and has adopted tougher rules in its immigration act French police officers were seen watching Saturday as movers boarded at a beach in Gravelines between Calais and Dunkirk and functionaries were then pictured escorting the boats French administration noted they rescued people Pretty shocking those scenes the day before today Defense Secretary John Healey explained Sky News He added that it is a really big predicament that French police are unable to intervene to intercept boats in shallow waters adding that the U K is pressing for the French to put new rules into operation so they can intervene They re not doing it but but for the first time for years we ve got the level of cooperation needed he reported Sky News We ve got the agreement that they will change the way they work and our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these agents and stop these people in the boats not just on the shore Despite French and U K efforts the cross-Channel road one of the world s busiest shipping lanes remains a major smuggling corridor for people fleeing conflict or poverty Multiple asylum seekers favor the U K for reasons of language family ties or perceived easier access to asylum and work The Home Office says people arrived in the UK on small boats in more than in The highest number of arrivals was in with Source