On Tuesday, June 18th 2024, over 800 migrants crossed the Channel from France to the UK, setting a new record for 2024. According to Home Office data, 882 migrants made the journey in 15 small boats, marking the highest single-day figure since 2022.
After a brief pause in crossings, with 105 migrants arriving on June 13, no arrivals were recorded on June 19. This latest figure surpasses the previous 2024 record by more than 100 people. The last time a higher number was recorded was on November 29, 2022, when 947 people made the crossing, according to Sky News.
Since the beginning of the year, over 12,000 migrants have crossed the Channel, an 18 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023. This surge comes just two weeks before the UK’s General Election, where the ruling Conservative party, trailing in the polls, faces significant scrutiny. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping small boat crossings one of his main pledges, but the number of arrivals has continued to rise.
Since Sunak took office in October 2022, nearly 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel, constituting about a third of all crossings in the last six and a half years. The Conservative government’s Rwanda deal, introduced in April 2022, aimed to deter these crossings by processing asylum claims in Rwanda. Despite stricter migration laws making Channel crossings without papers illegal, no one has been flown to Rwanda yet under this policy.
The government has announced that the first flights to Rwanda are scheduled for July 24, post-election. However, the opposition Labour party, which is currently leading in the polls, has pledged to end the Rwanda deal if elected, calling it a “sham” and a “waste of money.” A study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) revealed that the Rwanda deal has already cost nearly half a billion pounds without any flights taking place. If implemented, the cost for an initial 20,000 migrants could reach 3.9 billion pounds.
From March 2023 to March 2024, Afghans were the largest group crossing the Channel, making up nearly a fifth of all crossings. They were followed by Iranians and Turkish nationals. Most of the migrants are male, with nearly a fifth aged between 25 and 39, as reported by the BBC.
The Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, poses significant dangers due to fast-changing weather patterns, high winds, and cold water temperatures, which can be life-threatening. Between 2018 and 2023, at least 159 migrants have died attempting the crossing, according to the UN Migration Agency (IOM).