A record number of migrants crossed the English Channel on Sunday, the highest daily number since Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of the left-wing Labour Party took office pledging to end illegal human trafficking.
Some 703 people arrived on 11 boats in a 24-hour period, according to provisional figures from the Ministry of Interior. Saw Starmer has also pledged to crack down on hurtful language on social media, and a government intelligence team to monitor Covid-19-era “disinformation” has been reinstated, according to AFP, as he has said elsewhere.
Around the same time, two illegal migrants died after setting off from the French coast in shaky rubber boats provided by smugglers, Breitbart News reported.
French authorities are said to be leading the investigation into the deaths.
Two migrant boats killed while attempting to cross English Channelhttps://t.co/X8WUy0PMrK
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 11, 2024
A total of 25 migrants have died in the Channel trying to reach British shores so far this year.
Small boat arrivals for 2024 are now estimated at 18,342.
of The Daily Telegraph Reports That’s 13 percent more than the 16,170 total at the same time last year, but 3 percent less than the 18,978 total so far in 2022.
Stopping migrants on small boats was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July, but within days of taking office Mr Starmer backed away from plans to forcibly return migrants to Rwanda.
The plan was a flagship policy of the previous Conservative government.
Instead, in his keynote speech, Starmer promised to end the Conservatives’ “bullish talk, do nothing” approach to cross-Channel travel.
3,000 illegal immigrants have landed in the UK since the Labour government came to power https://t.co/FdkOIhmycj
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 1, 2024
Trump has promised to dismantle human smuggling rings that organize border crossings and receive thousands of euros per migrant, but has yet to provide details on what specific actions he will take to close France’s maritime border.
The only thing the government has promised is the creation of a new Border Patrol force with hundreds of specialised agents, and counter-terrorism powers are being used to disrupt human trafficking rings.
The money will come from the £75 million saved from the scrapping of the Rwanda scheme.
