The
number of migrants reaching the UK in small boats in a single day hits a 2025
high
By PAN PYLAS
Updated 2:23
AM GMT+2, June 2, 2025
LONDON (AP)
— U.K. government figures Sunday showed nearly 1,200 migrants arrived in the
country 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 1,194 migrants arrived in 18 boats Saturday in
what were settled weather conditions, bringing the provisional annual total so
far to 14,811.
That’s 42%
higher than the same point last year, an increase that has piled pressure on
the Labour government, 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 crossing.
Having
ditched the Conservative government’s plan to send migrants who arrived in the
U.K. by unauthorized means to Rwanda, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his
government would get control by smashing the gangs and the business models that
sustain their smuggling operations.
Since
gaining power, Starmer’s government has sought better intelligence-sharing
internationally, enhanced enforcement operations in northern France and has
adopted tougher rules in its immigration legislation.
French
police officers were seen watching Saturday as migrants boarded at a beach in
Gravelines, between Calais and Dunkirk, and authorities were then pictured
escorting the boats. French authorities said they rescued 184 people.
“Pretty
shocking, those scenes yesterday,” Defense Secretary John Healey told Sky News.
He added
that it is a “really big problem” 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 told 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 smugglers and stop these people in
the boats, not just on the shore.”
Despite
French and U.K. efforts, the cross-Channel route, one of the world’s busiest
shipping lanes, remains a major smuggling corridor for people fleeing conflict
or poverty. Many migrants favor the U.K. for reasons of language, family ties
or perceived easier access to asylum and work.
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 number of arrivals was in 2022, with 45,774.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário