Small boat migrant crossings top 29,000 for the year so far

25 October 2024, 16:59

More than 29,000 migrants have crossed the Channel into the UK so far this year, including 500 in a single day.

11 boats, catting 509 people made the perilous trip on Thursday, the Home Office confirmed today bringing the total number for 2024 to 29,154.

This is a 10% increase compared to this time last year, but 24% lower than the 38,129 people who made the trip by October 2022.

Thursday’s crossing takes the total number of people to cross the Channel in the last three days to over 1,000.

Read more: Three dead after packed migrant boat sinks in Channel

French coastguard officials confirmed they rescued 76 migrants in three separate boats on Thursday after they got into difficulty while making the journey.

So far this year, 47 deaths have been reported by the French coastguard, including a baby who died when a boat got into difficulty on Thursday evening.

Two migrants dead after boat sinks in English Channel, French coastguard says

These deaths come after the UK and other G7 nations agreed an anti-smuggling action plan designed to boost co-operation in stopping small boats.

The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence-sharing in a bid to target criminal smuggling routes.

The action plan also details "working collaboratively" with social media companies to monitor the internet and different platforms to prevent them being used to enable migrant smuggling and people trafficking.

This includes calling on social media companies "to do more to respond to online content that advertises migrant smuggling services".

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

Channel crossings continue after eight migrants die trying to reach UK

"As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.

"We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

"We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad. Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute these evil criminals."