Nearly 20,000 migrants have gone through the Channel since January 1, which represents a record on the first half of the year, according to figures published on Tuesday by the British government.
On Monday, 879 migrants arrived in the United Kingdom after illegally crossing the round, bringing the total number of arrivals to 19,982 over six months. This represents an increase of 48% compared to 2024 (13,489 crossed in six months), 75% compared to 2023 (11,433) and a record since the number of crossings began to be recorded in 2018.
These figures are further accentuating the pressure on the Labor government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has promised to fight illegal immigration and which faces the rise of the anti-immigration party Reform UK. A border control law is being examined in parliament: it must notably give more power to the police against smuggling networks.
Paris ready to review the intervention rules
London has also signed several cooperation agreements with the countries of departure or transit (Iraq, Germany, Serbia, Kosovo, etc.). In February, London and Paris extended their treatments against illegal immigration until 2027, by which the British financed part of the controls carried out on the French side.
French and British governments should announce new measures in the coming weeks. Paris plans, under the pressure of London, to modify the intervention doctrine of police and gendarmes at sea in order to be able to intercept the “taxi-boats” (which embark migrants directly in the sea, thus avoiding controls on the beaches) up to 300 meters from the coast.
Currently, in accordance with international sea law, once a boat is in the water, the authorities are only rescue. There are also discussions to experiment with an exchange of migrants under certain conditions.
Upward statistics
Most people arriving in small boats come from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Iran. Seventeen people died by trying to rally England by sea since the beginning of the year, according to the French Ministry of the Interior. The year 2024 had experienced a sad record of 78 deaths of this type.
In 2022, record year for the arrivals of migrants crossing the Channel on these boats, 45,774 people had arrived in the United Kingdom. After a drop in 2023, illegal crossings experienced a net rebound last year (36,800), and the trend for this year augurs a new record.
AFP/Miro
