More than 26,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year, GB News can exclusively reveal.
Almost half that total, around 12,700 have now made the illegal journey in just three months since Labour came to power and promised to “smash the gangs.”
The latest grim milestone was reached on Saturday, as French authorities reported several more migrant deaths in the Channel, including a young child, who is believed to have been trampled to death in an overcrowded dinghy.
GB News can also reveal that a total of 500 small boats have been recovered so far this year by British maritime authorities in UK waters. That averages out at 52 migrants per boat, although some of the makeshift vessels have attempted to cross with double that number on board.
A Border ship arriving earlier today
GB News
More than 50 migrants have died while attempting to make the illegal crossing this year, the highest number of deaths since the Channel crisis began in 2018.
Maritime security sources have told GB News that overcrowded boats are at the route of the vast majority of those deaths. The rubber vessels, made to order in back street factories for the people smuggling gangs, are “highly susceptible to giving way at the seams when overloaded”, one source said.
They are also easily swamped by waves and the wake from passing large ships in the busy channel.
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said that “several people had died” in two separate incidents on Saturday.
Local newspaper, La Voix Du Nord reported that three people died off Calais and a young child died on a small boat, near Boulogne.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau
Reuters
More than 50 migrants have died while attempting to make the illegal crossing this year
GB News
Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper posted on X, to say that she was “in touch” with her opposite number in France.
She added: “It is appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings. The gangs do not care if people live or die – this is a terrible trade in lives.”
GB News’s Kent producer has so far counted more than 650 migrants throughout Saturday, as they were brought to the main migrant processing centre at Dover harbour.
Police were also seen searching a number of migrants, who are believed to have been on a boat that was at the centre of one of the earlier tragedies. That dinghy has now been seized by police and will be searched for evidence.
Today’s arrivals follow 395 migrants, who made the illegal crossing in seven small boats on Friday, They were the first arrivals for five days, after bad weather in the Channel prevented people smugglers from launching their boats.
It takes the total for the year so far to more than 26,150. This compares to 25,330 by the same date last year.
One maritime security source said: “We’ve got another significant Atlantic storm moving in over the next day or so. It’s clear that the organised criminal gangs are pushing out as many boats as they can while they’ve got this short weather window.
“But conditions now are still far from ideal. We see these callous criminals taking increasing risks, as part of this vile trade in human lives.”
The latest arrivals come just a day after the UK and other G7 nations agreed an anti-smuggling action plan, following talks in Italy. The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence-sharing in a bid to target criminal smuggling routes.
