Migrants crossing Channel this year exceeds 18,000 amid two more deaths – The Irish News

More than 700 migrants crossed the Channel on the day that two people died trying to make the crossing, the highest number of daily crossings since Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister.

The Home Office recorded on Sunday that 703 people arrived in the UK in 11 boats, an average of 64 people per boat.

Two people died in French waters while trying to cross the Channel. The others on board the boat were rescued and returned to France.

French authorities are said to be leading the investigation into the deaths.

The latest border crossings bring the provisional total for the year so far to 18,342, the highest number of arrivals so far under Sir Keir’s Labour government.

This is 13% higher than this time last year (16,170), but 3% lower than the total at this stage in 2022 (18,978).

The highest number of arrivals on a single day this year so far was 882 on June 18, with the next highest number on May 1 (711), both under the previous government ahead of the general election.

The Home Office said: “We all want an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which undermine border security and endanger lives.

“The new Government is taking steps to improve our border security by establishing a new Border Security Command that will bring together our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror powers and hundreds of staff based in the UK and abroad to help defeat criminal smuggling gangs that are making millions in profits.”