London [UK], April 6: More than 30,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats since British Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office, according to the latest government figures.
A total of 154 people made the crossing in four boats on Friday, according to the Home Office. This brings the total for the year so far to 6,796, a 25% increase on numbers by the same point last year, a 70% increase on 2023 and 49% rise on 2022, according to analysis of the figures by the PA news agency.
The 30,000-milestone comes as Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to the Western Balkans this week to ratify a "cooperation agreement" aimed at speeding up intelligence-sharing to disrupt people smuggling. The region is a key transit route through which migrants travel to the European Union and UK, accounting for almost 22,000 irregular border crossings in the continent recorded last year, according to the British Foreign Office.
Ahead of the trip, Lammy said: "[Criminals] are risking lives for profit and becoming increasingly violent in their determination to make as much money as possible." "This diabolical, lawless trade of smuggling vulnerable people is completely unacceptable and we are determined to end it as we secure the UK's borders under our plan for change," he added.
Starmer earlier this week blamed the Conservatives for failing to prevent people smuggling gangs targeting the UK.
Source: Qatar Tribune
