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The UK has seen a record number of migrants cross the English Channel in a single day this week as the government struggles to implement plans to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda.
British media reported that 1,295 migrants crossed the Channel from Europe in small boats on Monday. This is a daily record. According to the BBC report, this means that since the beginning of the year he has crossed 22,557 migrants.
Illegal immigrants usually made their way to the UK by hopping onto the back of a truck on their way from Calais, France, to Dover via the ferry or the Channel Tunnel.
However, since 2018 there has been a sharp increase in the number of small boats crossing the channel. Only 299 illegal immigrants crossed in small boats in 2018, according to UK government statistics. In 2021, that number will surge to 28,526.
UK announces deal to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda, claims Brexit made it possible
Illegal immigrants mostly come from countries far from the UK and pass through multiple safe countries to reach Brighty.
According to official statistics, since 2018, Iranians and Iraqis have made up half of all small boat arrivals, followed by migrants from Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Vietnam, and Albania. However, this year, Albanians, along with Afghans, are the most common arrivals by small boat, accounting for 18% of her total each. Additionally, in his first six months of 2022, around 2,165 Albanians arrived in the UK via this route.
The British government, led by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has repeatedly promised to crack down on illegal immigration, but has struggled to deliver on its promises.
Earlier this year, the Johnson administration announced an agreement with Rwanda to send illegal immigrants instead. The move provoked outrage from left-wing British politicians and the United Nations.
UK government pushes bill to crack down on illegal immigration, keep immigrants offshore
The deal was similar in some respects to efforts by the Trump administration in the United States to implement “safe third country” agreements and send immigrants there instead. It is intended to deter those who seek to cover up migration for economic reasons.
In his speech, Johnson said the move was made possible by UK leaving the EUThis gave the UK greater control over immigration policy.
“Driven by a humanitarian impulse we all share and made possible by Brexit freedom, this revolutionary approach disrupts gang business models while providing a safe and legal route for asylum. Because economic migrants using the asylum system should stay in the UK,” Johnson said. “People in genuine need will be adequately protected upon arrival in Rwanda, including access to legal services, and given the opportunity to build a new life in a dynamic country supported by the funds we provide. .”
Mr Johnson said seven out of 10 migrants arriving by small boat were men under the age of 40 in “apparently safe countries, including much of Europe, where they could and should have applied for asylum”. said to have passed.
But the first flights in June were blocked after the European Court of Human Rights, which is separate from the European Union that Britain has left, issued an injunction.
The flight has since been put on hold amid an ongoing legal challenge focused on human rights issues related to sending migrants to the East African country.
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The Guardian newspaper reported Thursday that the Home Office is planning. new deportation flight Ahead of a UK High Court hearing on the matter next month. Britain also announced this week new plans to “expedite” the deportation of Albanians out of the country.
“Hundreds of Albanians have been lie-sold by ruthless smugglers and vicious organized crime gangs to make the perilous journey to the UK in frivolous ships,” Interior Secretary Priti Patel said in a statement. “We cannot continue to abuse the immigration system and put people’s lives at risk.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.