Nearly 37,000 migrants arrived illegally in the United Kingdom by crossing the Channel on small boats in 2024, a number up sharply compared to the previous year, according to British government figures published on Wednesday.
A total of 36,816 people succeeded in the perilous crossing during the past year, i.e. 25% more than in 2023, but less than the record reached in 2022, with 45,774 arrivals.
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At least 76 deaths
The year 2024, however, sets a sad record, with at least 76 people dying while attempting the crossing, in around twenty shipwrecks. Last Sunday alone, at least three migrants died when a boat departed from Sangatte (Pas-de-Calais) for England.
This phenomenon has become a major issue in British politics both for previous Conservative governments, which had promised to “take back control” of the borders after Brexit, and for Labor who came to power this summer.
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More than 150,000 migrants have arrived in the United Kingdom this way
In total, since 2018 and the appearance of these crossings in the wake of the strengthening of controls on trucks using the Channel Tunnel, more than 150,000 migrants have arrived in the United Kingdom through this means. They now represent the majority of illegal arrivals detected by the authorities.
In the month of December 2024 alone, more than 3,200 migrants made the crossing, with for example 322 people arriving on December 28 or 451 on Christmas Day, and more than 400 again the next day. Full data on their nationality will be released later, but between September 2023 and September 2024, the top countries of origin were Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Vietnam and Eritrea.
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When it came to power in July, Keir Starmer's government returned to the Conservatives' controversial plan to deport migrants to Rwanda, and promised to strengthen the fight against smuggling networks, which it intends to treat “as terrorists.”
