Over 200 migrants crossed into the UK over the English Channel on Sunday on the same day a woman died off the coast of Calais after falling from an overcrowded dinghy.
The woman died during an attempt to reach the UK early on Sunday morning as 255 people in four boats were brought into Dover.
People smugglers continued to take advantage of the warm calm conditions today with Border Force vessels Defender and Volunteer were seen ferrying migrants back into the Port of Dover after being intercepted at sea.
The group of mainly men were seen wearing orange lifejackets as they were brought into the Port’s western docks.
Seven migrants have died in the Channel in July alone and the most recent death took the death toll for the year to 23.
Over 200 migrants crossed into the UK over the English Channel on Sunday
A woman died during an attempt to reach the UK early on Sunday morning
A group of people thought to be migrants wade through the sea to clamber aboard a small boat off the beach in Gravelines, France
The woman was found unconscious by the French Maritime Prefect after a migrant boat got into difficulty off the coast of Calais.
After being taking to a hospital in Boulogne-sur-mer by a French navy helicopter, the woman was pronounced dead.
34 others were rescued by the authorities from the dinghy – though some opted to continue their journey into Britain.
A spokesperson for the Prefecture Maritime said: ‘The maritime prefect of the Channel and the North Sea warns anyone considering crossing the Channel of the risks involved.
‘This maritime sector is one of the busiest areas in the world, with more than 600 merchant ships passing through it per day and the weather conditions are often difficult (120 days of winds greater than or equal to force 7 on an annual average for example), so it is a particularly dangerous sector even when the sea seems calm.’
Yesterdays arrivals take the cumulative number so far in 2024 to 16,457, a new record for the first seven months of a calendar year, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.
Yesterdays arrivals take the cumulative number so far in 2024 to 16,457, a new record for the first seven months of a calendar year
Yesterdays arrivals take the cumulative number so far in 2024 to 16,457, a new record for the first seven months of a calendar year,
The previous record for arrivals in the seven months from January to July was 16,420 in 2022.
There were 14,732 arrivals in the first seven months of 2023.
Monthly data comes from the most recent Home Office quarterly update on irregular migration to the UK, which presents the ‘final and authoritative statistics on small boat arrivals’.
There were 29,437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
The surge in arrivals was debated in parliament today with Reform UK’s Lee Anderson accusing France of being ‘complicit’ in small boat crossings.
Speaking at Home Office questions, Mr Anderson (Ashfield) told the Commons: ‘Six boats came over the Channel on Saturday, there’s been reports of another four today – that’s over 500 illegal migrants being escorted into our waters by the French authorities.
‘Does the Home Secretary agree with me it’s time now to stop paying the French any more money until they stop being complicit in this evil trade?’
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘These boat crossings are extremely dangerous and a woman died in the Channel again yesterday, and criminal gangs are deliberately cramming boats to maximise their profits, and they have been getting away with it for far too long.
‘That is why we need a new border security command in place, but it is also why we need to work not simply with the French police but also with police forces and organisations right across Europe, and beyond, in order to pursue the gangs and to prevent the boats reaching the French coast in the first place.’
