UK: Record Number of Migrants Crossing English Channel
Nearly a thousand migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East have attempted to cross the English Channel on small boats in just one day to illegally get into the United Kingdom.
UK: Record Number of Migrants Crossing English Channel
Soeren Kern | Gatestone Institute | September 16, 2021
Nearly a thousand migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East have attempted to cross the English Channel on small boats in just one day to illegally get into the United Kingdom. The record-breaking surge in illegal crossings is being facilitated by warm weather and calm seas.
The British government is struggling to stop the crossings — partly because of its need for cooperation from France. British authorities have repeatedly accused their French counterparts of not doing enough to stop small boats from leaving French territorial waters.
Although the UK has pledged to pay France tens of millions of pounds to stop migrants crossing the Channel, French naval vessels are accused of escorting small boats into British waters.
French officials counter that the UK has not done enough to reduce the incentives that act as a magnet for migrants: not only are newcomers showered with generous social welfare benefits, but the UK’s decision to scrap national identity cards, combined with its sizeable shadow economy, makes it easy for illegal immigrants to find work.
