Within 24 hours, 1,295 refugees had been registered, the UK Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday. Men, women with babies and small children came ashore at Dover after being captured from rubber boats at sea. The refugees came through the Strait of Calais, the narrowest part of the English Channel.
Since the start of 2020, an increasing number of refugees have attempted to travel illegally to the UK via this route. Last year, British authorities intercepted more than 28 thousand people. This number is expected to be exceeded in 2022. The number currently stands at 22,670, almost double compared to last year.
The hope is that their numbers will decrease, as stricter laws to deal with people smugglers appear to be bearing fruit. In early July, a large network of people smugglers was dismantled. According to the European police organization Europol, this network sent tens of thousands of refugees by boat to the UK within a year and a half.
File headache
The government now fears that a total of 60,000 people will cross the English Channel this year. The costs of processing all asylum applications and organizing housing are very high. Decisive measures, such as the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda, should have deterred refugees, but in June the European Court of Human Rights overturned these controversial plans.
This influx of refugees was a headache for British politics. The immigration debate is also playing a major role in the run-up to Brexit. Without the burden of European immigration policies, the island should be able to police its borders with relative ease, the reasoning goes. But it is impossible to control immigration.
This influx of refugees also caused tension between England and France. According to the British government, Paris did not do enough to stop the ships. In contrast, the French government said it did not have the capacity to control the entire coast and stop all ships. The government also stressed that UK employment laws are attractive to migrants.
The crossing is mainly carried out in summer, when weather conditions are good. But refugees continue to arrive, even in winter. The previous daily record of 1,185 people occurred in November 2021. Bad weather is not the only danger for refugees. The Strait of Calais is the busiest sea route in the world. Up to eight hundred boats can pass each day, making it difficult for them to avoid small migrant boats.
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