Seven boats carrying 395 migrants cross the Channel after a disruption due to bad weather – The Irish News

A total of 395 migrants arrived in Britain after crossing the English Channel on Friday, the first arrivals in five days.

The latest arrivals, who had traveled in seven boats, bring the total for the year to 25,639.

This compared to 25,330 on the same date last year and 33,611 in 2022.

Some of those who arrived on Friday were pictured wearing life jackets as they were taken to Dover on a Border Force vessel.

The arrivals came on the same day that Britain and other G7 countries agreed on an anti-smuggling action plan aimed at boosting cooperation in this area following talks in Italy.

The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence sharing in an effort to tackle criminal smuggling routes.

The action plan also describes “working together” with social media companies to monitor the internet and various platforms to prevent them from being used to facilitate migrant smuggling and human trafficking.

This includes calling on social media companies “to do more to respond to online content advertising migrant smuggling services.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to put an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“As we have seen in so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, people smuggling gangs don’t care whether the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will do everything we can to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

“We are making progress and strengthening our workforce in the UK and beyond. Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and increase our efforts to investigate, apprehend and prosecute these vicious criminals.”