This year, more than 26,000 small boat migrants will cross the Channel

More than 26,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel so far this year, GB News can exclusively reveal.

Almost half of that total, some 12,700, have now made the illegal journey in just three months since Labor came to power promising to ‘crush the gangs’.

The latest grim milestone was reached on Saturday when French authorities reported a further number of migrant deaths in the Channel, including a young child reportedly trampled in an overcrowded rubber boat.

GB News can also reveal that a total of 500 small boats have been recovered by British maritime authorities in British waters so far this year. That amounts to an average of 52 migrants per boat, although some makeshift vessels have attempted to cross with double that number on board.

A border ship arrives earlier today

GB News

More than 50 migrants have died this year while attempting the illegal crossing, the highest number of deaths since the Channel crisis began in 2018.

Maritime safety sources have told GB News that overcrowded boats are on the route of the vast majority of these deaths. The rubber barrels, which are made to order in backstreet factories for the human smuggling gangs, are “highly susceptible to collapsing when overloaded,” one source said.

They are also easily swamped by waves and the wake of passing large ships in the busy canal.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Saturday that “several people had died” in two separate incidents.

Local newspaper La Voix Du Nord reported that three people died near Calais and a young child died on a small boat near Boulogne.

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French Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau

Reuters

This year, more than fifty migrants have died trying to make the illegal crossing

GB News

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper posted on X that she was in “contact” with her counterpart in France.

She added: “It is devastating that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggling gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings. The gangs don’t care if people live or die – this is a terrible situation.” trade in lives.”

GB News’ Kent producer has counted more than 650 migrants so far throughout Saturday as they were taken to the main migrant processing center at the port of Dover.

Police were also seen searching a number of migrants, who are believed to have been on a boat at the center of one of the previous tragedies. The rubber boat has now been seized by police and will be examined for evidence.

Yvette Kuiper GB News

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.

This brings the total for the year to date to more than 26,150. This compared to 25,330 on the same date last year.

A maritime security source said: ‘Another major Atlantic storm is approaching over the next day. It is clear that the organized criminal gangs are pushing out as many boats as they can in this short period of time.

“But the circumstances are still far from ideal. We see these callous criminals taking more and more risks as part of this vile trade in human lives.”

The latest arrivals come just a day after Britain and other G7 countries agreed on an action plan against smuggling, following talks in Italy. The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence sharing in an effort to tackle criminal smuggling routes.