Wednesday was the busiest day for small boat migrant crossings so far this year
Wednesday was the busiest day for Channel crossings so far this year (Image: Getty)
More than 750 migrants crossed the Channel yesterday on the busiest day of the year so far. Some 752 people made the dangerous journey from France on nine small boats.
The latest arrivals take the total so far this year to 14,128. It comes just days after Prime Minister Andy Burnham insisted that the Government’s plan to curb Channel crossings was “working” despite admitting there was “more to do”.
Hundreds of migrants crossed the Channel on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
The total so far this year is down 42% on the equivalent point last year, when it stood at 24,538.
It is also 15% below the figure at this stage in 2024, when the total was 16,712.
It comes as four migrants have died today while trying to make the perilous journey to Britain.
Three people were found dead on a boat off the coast of Dunkirk on Thursday, the French coastguard said, and a fourth is thought to have drowned in a separate incident near Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the deaths were “preventable” as he called for “a proper deterrent”.
Mr Philp, who has spent part of this week on beaches in northern France, said: “Illegal Channel crossings are extremely dangerous and put lives at risk. Every one of these tragic deaths was preventable.
“The only way to save lives is to stop the crossings completely.
“And the only way we can stop the crossings is by having a proper deterrent.
“If people know they can stay in the UK, get put up in a hotel and claim benefits then they will keep risking these dangerous journeys.
“Instead, if they know they will be quickly removed then they will not cross in the first place. We must end the incentive to illegally enter the UK.”
He said his party had policies to block “asylum claims from illegal entrants”, to “stop non-citizens claiming benefits” and to “restrict indefinite leave to remain and citizenship”.