English Channel: More Migrants Than Ever Crammed on Each Boat, Figures Show

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Forc
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Oliver JJ Lane

The average number of migrants per English Channel smuggler boat hit an all-time high last month, analysis of government statistics reveals.

People smugglers continue to put the lives of migrants trying to gain entry to the United Kingdom at tremendous risk — what is now euphemistically called ‘irregular migration’ — with the often very questionably seaworthy inflatable boats used carrying more people aboard than ever.

Analysis of government figures by the Press Association notes July saw the highest average number of migrants per boat since records began in 2018, with 3,299 individuals being detected by Border Force aboard 63 boats, or 52 people per crossing.

The busiest day of the month was July 7th when 686 people crossed in 13 boats, but bad weather has seen no crossings at all on almost half of the days in the 31-day month.

While the trend for arrivals this year so far is considerably up on 2022 — itself a record year for Channel crossings — it is showing a broadly similar trajectory to 2022, with the total arrivals around ten per cent power than the same period last year. Nevertheless, the high levels of crossings continue to be a major embarrassment for the ruling Conservative Party who as well as their longstanding promise — comprehensively failed — to cut migration has also promised to curb boat crossings.

Previous claims they were succeeding at getting the Channel migrant crisis under control were ridiculed when it was suggested that a lull in arrivals had more to do with the weather than government action. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have been reduced to announcing a series of policies, each claimed to be a serious move agianst the problem, but which are inevitably bogged down in legal wrangling.

That is not to say it is impossible to prevent migrants from accessing a sovereign nation by sea, however. Australia showed the world it was possible when it instituted Operation Sovereign Borders in 2013 and achieved hundreds of consecutive days without a single successful migrant boat landing on its territory.

While border control required some tough action — including uncompromising boat turnarounds and not signing Australia up to the United Nations’ migration pact — these were seen as worthwhile acts to deliver on the priorities of Australian voters and reduce the risk of migrant boat sinking deaths. Deaths at sea remain a serious problem in Europe and a stain on the conscience of the continent, caused as they are by weak border control encouraging crossings.

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