A small boat carrying 128 people crossed the English Channel on Friday, marking the largest number of individuals recorded to have made the journey in a single vessel. This incident occurred on a day when a total of 225 migrants crossed the Channel on three separate boats.
The Home Office stated that smuggling gangs are increasingly taking risks, cramming more people into unseaworthy boats year after year. The previous record for migrants in one vessel was 125 people. The department emphasized that this crossing serves as a stark reminder of the dangers involved, noting that criminal gangs disregard the safety of those they transport, leading to loss of life in the Channel.
These events underscore the government's efforts to prevent such perilous journeys. The UK has signed a new deal with France to enhance enforcement actions on beaches, building on efforts that have reportedly stopped over 45,000 attempted crossings since the last election. Despite this record number in a single boat, overall migrant crossings in small boats to the UK have fallen by 44% compared to the same period last year, with over 12,000 people having arrived by this method so far this year.