(London) Illegal crossings of the Channel to the United Kingdom reached a record number in the first six months of the year, in contrast to regular immigration, which fell under the effect of restrictions, according to official figures published Thursday.
A total of 13,489 migrants made the perilous crossing in rubber dinghies between January and June 2024, an 18% increase on the same period last year and the highest number for the first half of the year since the method of entry to the UK emerged in 2018.
Reducing levels of immigration, both legal and illegal, was a priority of the Conservative government in power until July. The Labour government that succeeded it shares this objective, even if it claims a more “humane” policy, and presented measures on Wednesday aimed at increasing the number of deportations and combating “people-smuggling gangs”.
The makeshift boats being used are increasingly crowded, with 51 people per boat on average between June 2023 and June 2024 compared to 44 people the previous year, according to the Home Office. Since January 2018, more than two-thirds of their passengers have been men aged 18 and over.
Between June 2023 and June 2024, 18% of those arriving by these boats were from Afghanistan, a figure that is down sharply, followed by Iran (13%) and Vietnam (10%). In the first six months of 2024, Vietnamese migrant arrivals quadrupled compared to the same period in 2023.
Of those who arrived in these boats between 2018 and June 2024, having requested asylum and whose file was processed, 71% received a favorable response.
But since a law came into force in July 2023, no asylum has been granted to people arriving by this mode of transport.
Regarding legal immigration, at a record level in 2022, the former Conservative government has considerably tightened the conditions for obtaining work or family visas in recent months.
The Home Office welcomes an 81% year-on-year drop in visas granted to health professionals and an 81% decrease in visas granted to family members of students in the first semester.
Tensions over immigration in the UK were highlighted in early August by far-right riots in England and Northern Ireland, including attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers.