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The number of migrants crossing the English Channel illegally saw a significant surge in 2024, with government data showing a 25 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Official figures reveal that 36,816 individuals made unauthorized Channel crossings in small vessels from French coastal areas during 2024, marking a substantial rise from the 29,437 recorded in 2023, as reported by Sky News.
Although these numbers remain below the peak of 45,774 crossings documented in 2022, 2024 still ranks as the second-highest year for illegal Channel crossings since the crisis emerged in 2018.
How can some claim these people are just economic migrants. How desperate does one have to be to climb into a rubber dingy with 50 other people to cross the English Channel in the middle of winter. Let alone the months of misery and torture to get that far. pic.twitter.com/wK9pxcmelQ
— Marty (@Martu25114) December 29, 2024
The year also proved particularly tragic, with conflicting casualty reports from different organizations. The UN’s International Organization for Migration documented 77 deaths during Channel crossing attempts, while French authorities reported a lower figure of 55 fatalities.
The Labour Party government, which assumed power in July, has faced criticism over its handling of the crisis. Under their watch, 23,242 migrants made unauthorized crossings, representing a 29 percent increase compared to the same timeframe in 2023, according to The Telegraph.
Upon taking office, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer abandoned the previous administration’s Rwanda deportation strategy, which had proposed sending boat migrants to detention facilities in Rwanda instead of allowing them to remain in Britain during asylum processing.
The current administration has shifted focus to targeting smuggling operations rather than implementing immediate removal policies. However, this approach has drawn skepticism from critics who argue that the profitable nature of human trafficking means new criminal enterprises quickly replace those that are dismantled.
A Home Office spokesman said Wednesday: “The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage advocated for a more aggressive approach to the crisis, citing Australia’s successful border control measures under former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Every illegal migrant that crosses the English Channel now costs you the taxpayer £41,000.
That is an increase of over 140% since 2019.
Labour and the Tories have failed us all. pic.twitter.com/JzK25eH9rS
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) October 24, 2024
“Tony Abbott in Australia was told he couldn’t do anything about the votes coming from Indonesia but in 2012, do you know what he did? He towed them back to Indonesia, guess what happened happened, the boats stopped coming. We must do the same,” the Reform boss said.
While acknowledging potential French opposition to such measures, Farage highlighted the ineffectiveness of current arrangements, noting that despite receiving substantial British funding for border enforcement, French authorities have struggled to prevent crossings.
“We are full of arguments in life about why we can’t do things, what about arguments as to why we can do things?” Farage concluded.
