The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in 2024 increased by 25%
Kyiv • UNN
In 2024, 36,816 migrants crossed the English Channel by boat, 25% more than in 2023. This was the second highest figure since 2018
The number of migrants who arrived in the UK in 2024 by crossing the English Channel in small boats increased by a quarter compared to the previous year. This is reported by the Independent, according to UNN.
Details
According to preliminary data from the UK Home Office, 36,816 people crossed the English Channel in 2024, which is 25% more than in 2023 - 29,437. However, this is 20% less than the record 45,774 people who arrived in 2022.
The last border crossing in 2024 year took place on December 29, when 291 people traveled from France on six boats.
Over the past two days of 2024, the UK Home Office has not recorded a single border crossing, despite adverse weather conditions.
2024 was the second highest number of arrivals in a year since the start of data collection on crossing the English Channel in 2018.
The total number was relatively low in both 2018 (299) and 2019 (1,843), and then increased to 8,466 in 2020, 28,526 in 2021, and a record 45,774 in 2022.
In 2023, the number of crossings dropped to 29,437, and in 2024 it rose to 36,816.
The sharp increase in crossings came in the year when the now former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had to admit that he had not kept his promise to "stop the boats" when the Conservatives were defeated by Labor in the general election.
The change of government also meant that former Interior Minister Suella Braverman never saw her "dream" of sending migrants to Rwanda become a reality, after the policy stalled amid lawsuits and was later declared illegal by the Supreme Court.
Her successor, James Cleverly, failed to get flights to Rwanda resumed, despite returning a new bill to parliament and signing another treaty with the East African country in an effort to cement the agreement and address concerns raised by the court.
Some 13,574 migrants have arrived in the UK since the beginning of 2024 until the July 5 general election.
This is a record number for this period of the year and is 19% more than the 11,433 people who arrived between January 1 and July 5, 2023, and 5% more than the 12,900 people who arrived during the same period in 2022.
The number of arrivals between the general election and the end of 2024 was also higher than in the same period in 2023, but lower than in 2022.
Some 23,242 migrants arrived between Labor's victory on July 5 and December 31, 29% more than the 18,004 arrivals during this period in 2023 and 29% less than the 32,855 in 2022.
The National Agency for Combating Crime stated that it was conducting about 70 operational investigations into organized immigration crime and human trafficking.
According to the French Coast Guard, 2024 is considered the deadliest year for crossing the English Channel: 53 people died trying to cross the world's busiest shipping lane to reach the UK.
The International Organization for Migration has reported several more migrant deaths believed to be related to attempts to cross the English Channel last year.
