DANGEROUS JOURNEY
Scores of migrants board overloaded dinghies to make dangerous Channel crossing to UK – as French cops watch on
2025 could be on course to have record high numbers of small boat crossings
COUNTLESS migrants have boarded packed boats in France to make the treacherous journey across the English Channel to the UK.
French police watched on as one of six boats, filled with adults and children seeking refuge in Britain, departed from a beach in Gravelines, located between Calais and Dunkirk.
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French authorities were then also pictured escorting the small boat as it made its way across the water.
Over the past week, there have not been any arrivals of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats, figures from the Home Office show.
However, 2025 could be on course to have the highest number of Channel crossings ever, with more than 13,000 people having arrived in the UK so far this year.
That's roughly 30 per cent higher than figures were at the same time last year.
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There have also been major concerns over both the number of deaths of people making the perilous journey across the Channel and the prevalence of organised smuggling gangs.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to crack down on these criminals who put migrants' lives at risk, and to eventually reduce the number of small boat crossings.
Earlier this month, one person tragically died while trying to cross the Channel, with another having lost their life in April too.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is a UN agency, estimated at least 78 migrants died while making the crossing in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record.
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Since 2018, at least 225 migrants have lost their lives making the dangerous journey to the UK, according to the IOM.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said previously that gangs had been taking advantage of calmer weather days to try and make crossings.
Inside Calais camp where migrants pay thousands to be smuggled into UK
In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Ms Cooper said: “The really unacceptable situation we’re in is because of the way the criminal gangs have taken hold, our border security ends up being dependent on the weather.
“We cannot continue like this, where the number of calm days affects the number of crossings.”
Ms Cooper insisted “only a coordinated international response” across the whole migration route could effectively end the reign of the people smugglers.
She admitted the situation was unacceptable and could not continue.
Last month also saw the highest single number of migrants arriving on small boats so far this year, as roughly 650 people crossed the English Channel.
Last year, a total of 36,816 migrants illegally crossed the Channel in small boats, up from 29,437 in 2023.
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However, the highest year on record remains 2022, where 45,755 people made the treacherous journey to Britain.
The prime minister has faced scrutiny for failing to reduce the number of small boat crossings, and the influx of illegal migration.
However, he was given a lifeline as Kosovo said it would be "open" to discussions in becoming a return hub for failed UK asylum seekers.
The western Balkan nation is being considered under plans to deport those who have failed in their efforts to stay in the UK.
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Other options in the region — a principal route for illegal migrants — are said to include Serbia, North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
No formal talks have yet taken place.
Labour’s vow to ‘smash the gangs’ won’t see Channel migrant numbers fall until NEXT YEAR, sources warn
Labour's promise to "smash the gangs" will not see Channel migrant numbers fall until at least next year.
Measures to break the route "up stream" by tackling smugglers and boat suppliers will take months to trickle down according to law enforcement sources.
Ministers have been warned good weather this year is also contributing to a surge in crossings that are on course for a record year.
The number of so called "red days" when the calm seas and wind make it perfect to cross have doubled in 2025 so far according to the same point last year.
And intelligence monitoring of the Channel has indicated a rise in migrants from the Horn of Africa has seen riskier and larger crossings attempted.
Those smugglers are cramming more people into boats, which is also pushing up the numbers.
More than 13,000 people have already made the journey this year, putting 2025 on course to have the highest ever number of crossings, since records began in 2017.
Government insiders are highly pessimistic about the prospect of reducing numbers this year.
And they warn that policy changes and increase in enforcement measures not noticeably pay off until 2026 due to the high numbers of migrants already in France and ready to attempt the perilous journey.
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