According to a compilation made by local news agency PA Media based on data from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the number registered tripled from the previous year, when some 8,400 people crossed the strait that separates the north coast of France from the south of England. on inflatable boats and other fragile vessels.

In November 2021 alone, 6,869 migrants arrived on Britain’s south coast to seek asylum, and in the same month another 27 died, including several women and minors, when the ship carrying them sank off the coast.

The tragedy sparked a dispute between London and Paris, who blamed each other for the situation.

On the one hand, the British government alleged that French authorities had not done enough to prevent ships from leaving or arrest traffickers, despite the fact that Britain had offered them funds to increase the number of police on the coast. surveillance system.

France, for its part, accuses Britain of having an overly benevolent asylum system that encourages migration.

That situation, however, is about to change soon with a new law to be approved by the UK Parliament that considers prison terms for those who enter the country illegally and sending asylum seekers to third countries.

The reform, however, was rejected by migrant rights groups on the grounds that it would not solve the problem, and would contribute to more deaths in the English Channel.

People will continue to cross in flimsy boats, and people smugglers will continue to profit from them, unless governments open up safer routes for refugees, Tim Naor Hilton, executive director of Refugee Action, told Sky News.

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