More than 45,000 migrants crossed the English Channel illegally in 2022 in makeshift boats, a record despite plans by successive British Conservative governments to tackle the politically sensitive phenomenon.
According to AFP calculations based on Defense Ministry figures, 45,756 migrants made the dangerous journey, which has very cold waters for much of the year.
The previous year, in 2021, a new record had also been broken, but even so, almost half of the people tried to cross: 28,526 people tried to reach the island, according to AFP data.
Although most of the trips were made in summer, with an emphasis on August 22 when 1,295 migrants arrived in a single day, trips continue to be made in winter as well, with 1,745 arrivals during the month of December.
Last month was marked by the sinking of a ship carrying dozens of immigrants from France, four of whom died while the remaining 39 ended up being rescued by a nearby fishing boat.
The previous year, on the night of November 23 to 24, 27 migrants between the ages of seven and 46 died who were in a rubber boat that sank.
The French news agency AFP writes that the increasing closure of the French side of the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel has caused an explosion, since 2018, in the number of small craft crossings of the English Channel.
Britain’s Conservatives have vowed since Brexit to “regain control” of the borders, but despite successive announced plans, crossings continue to increase, circumventing Britain’s asylum system.
Source: TSF
