UK govt targets migrant-crisis solutions as death toll rises

The United Kingdom government will unveil additional solutions in 2025 to slow the fl ow of migrants into the country, after a record-breaking surge in people illegally crossing the English Channel to claim asylum.

At the end of a year in which at least 36,525 people entered the UK via the 34-kilometer-wide waterway that separates the country from France, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to get to grips with the situation that is placing a strain on the nation's infrastructure.

Starmer, whose pledge to "smash the gangs" was part of the Labour Party's election win in July, has already established new channels of communication with international law enforcement agencies and launched the UK's Border Security Command.

But he has overseen a six-month period in which migrant crossings rose by more than 20 percent on the same period in 2023, when the Conservative Party was in charge, according to data from Migration Watch UK.

With rightwing, anti-immigrant parties on the rise throughout Europe, his government knows the stakes are high and has pledged to greatly limit crossings that "threaten lives and undermine our border security".

And the crossings are indeed dangerous, with the International Organization for Migration saying at least 77 migrants died trying to make the trip this year, including three who perished on Sunday while attempting to leave Sangatte, near Calais, France.

After the latest tragedy, Sky News quoted Angela Eagle, Starmer's minister for border security and asylum, as saying: "This morning, lives have been lost at sea because ruthless criminals running the small boat trade are overloading people into unseaworthy vessels. We continue to support the French authorities who are leading on the response to the incident, which took place in French waters."

The latest deaths happened after the busiest Christmas period on record for illegal crossings, with 1,485 people known to have made the journey during a four-day window in which the sea was largely calm and there were favorable winds.

After Sunday's fatalities, Guy Allemand, the mayor of Sangatte, said some of the 55 people plucked alive from the water needed intensive care treatment at hospitals in Calais and Boulogne and 45 people were treated on the beach.

"It never stops," he said of the relentless small-boat crossings. "It's crossing after crossing, without any let-up."

BFM TV reported many of those rescued from the sea were suffering from severe hypothermia.

French maritime services said it looks as if several of those who ended up in the water had tried to force their way onto an already overcrowded boat.

AFP quoted local official Jacques Billant as saying: "The number of people who wanted to get on board the small boat was most probably too much compared to the boat's capacity. There was chaos and panic, as 58 people remained in the water and weren't able to get onboard. The boat then headed towards the UK."