In 2021, at least 28,300 illegal migrants arrived in Britain from France across small Channel ships and boats, a new record for the year, the Home Office said on Tuesday.
The largest number of illegal migrants arrived across the English Channel in November, reaching 6869. On 11 November alone, 1185 illegal migrants arrived in the United Kingdom on 33 ships and boats from France.
Activists are urging the British government to offer more opportunities to asylum seekers, thus reducing the number of people crossing the English Channel in unsafe boats, while government officials stress the need for tighter border controls, tougher penalties for smugglers and a reform of immigration law.
As Tom Persglov, an Interior Ministry official, explained, it should not be the case that people go from country to country seeking refuge as “shopping on tour” or risking their lives filling the pockets of criminal gangs to cross the English Channel.
The planned reform of the government’s immigration law will criminalize unauthorized entry into the UK, increase the life sentence for smugglers and extend the powers of border guards to stop illegal migrants from entering the country by boat and ship, and pave the way for asylum seekers to be processed outside the UK. , the minister said.
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