Balance sheet since 2018
Hundreds of thousands of migrants ventured across the English Channel
08/11/2023 2:29 p.m
Asylum policy is one of the defining issues in the current British government. She consistently relies on isolation. Current figures show that in the last five years, just 100,000 people have illegally crossed the English Channel into the country.
More than 100,000 migrants have irregularly crossed the English Channel to Britain in small boats since 2018. This was the result of a count by the AFP news agency. The British Home Office had previously announced that 755 migrants were counted on Thursday – the highest number of days since the beginning of the year. This brought a total of 100,715 migrants across the English Channel. The British government has repeatedly promised drastic measures to stop the crossing of refugees.
The crossings of migrants, especially from France via the English Channel – often in unseaworthy boats – were officially counted from 2018. Previously, the port of Calais in France and the Eurotunnel had been sealed off, making irregular journeys in lorries almost impossible. Deadly accidents involving refugee boats occur again and again in the English Channel.
Despite the Brexit promises that the British government wants to regain control of its borders, the number of irregular migrants has risen steadily in recent years. A record 45,000 people were reported last year. This year there are 15,826 since the beginning of the year.
A law passed by the conservative government in London, which came into force in July, has been particularly criticized: it prohibits migrants who have arrived in Great Britain irregularly from even applying for asylum in the country.