The British authorities warned today that more than 200 migrants crossed the English Channel in a single day, the seventh in a row, and that the figure for the last week exceeds the 2,100 people who made the crossing in small boats.
Some 210 migrants arrived yesterday on British shores in five boats, each with around 40 people on board, the UK Home Office reported, according to the Europa Press news agency.
On September 2, the country recorded its record number of daily arrivals, with 872 migrants on 15 boats.
In the last seven days, the United Kingdom received 2,188 migrants and since January 1, 22,289 people landed in the country through the English Channel.
The authorities were evaluating a toughening of the laws with an increase in sentences of up to four years in prison for those who enter the United Kingdom irregularly and those accused of human trafficking could be sentenced to life imprisonment for organizing the crossings.
At the end of August, the British Government reported on the possibility of placing electronic locators on migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, an initiative that generated criticism and reactions from human rights organizations.
Meanwhile, the plan to send immigrants to Rwanda or other countries remains blocked by Justice.
In June, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that the African nation cannot be considered a safe third country due to risks to migrants.
Among the strategies to stop immigration, in April of this year, the British Government promoted a controversial measure to house asylum seekers crossing the English Channel: a barge, called “Bibby Stockholm”, located off the coast of Portland, Dorset, southern England with capacity to accommodate up to 500 people.
It was not until August that the ship received its first 39 occupants, due to delays related to fire safety issues.
But on August 11, a health emergency led to the total evacuation of its occupants, after a bacteria that causes a serious variant of pneumonia was detected on board.
The British Home Office is also considering the option of using tents as an accommodation solution for asylum seekers, a move that aims to reduce costs.
At the end of March 2023, the United Kingdom was hosting more than 47,000 applicants in hotels scattered across the country.
The Government kept nearly 5,000 hotel beds unoccupied, a measure adopted to prevent overcrowding in detention centers, according to Interior Ministry sources.
More than 100,000 people have crossed the English Channel in precarious boats from France since 2018, when the United Kingdom began counting arrivals of this type.
As of the end of June this year, more than 175,000 people were waiting for a decision on whether they would be granted refugee status, 44% more than last year.
Source: Ambito
