LONDON, May 17. (DPA/ EP) –
More than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Britain so far this year after risking their lives crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Since the start of 2022, 8,393 people have arrived in the UK on small boats after crossing sea routes from France, according to an analysis of UK government data by the Britain Press Association.
This figure is more than double the number recorded in the same period in 2021, when 3,112 people reached UK shores, and more than six times the amount recorded in the same months in 2020, when 1,340 people crossed from France.
Arrivals of migrants have resumed this weekend. More than 600 people have reached Kent in two days, after last week there were four consecutive days in which no boat was sighted due to bad weather conditions.
On Sunday, around 436 people in nine boats made the crossing to the United Kingdom, after that same day 167 arrived in 13 boats, according to data from the Ministry of Defense.
In mid-April, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a migration plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The agreement with Rwanda will allow British authorities to send asylum seekers who cross the English Channel to the African country. The agreement is endowed with 120 million pounds -144 million euros- and will focus mainly on men without family responsibilities who arrive in the United Kingdom through boats or trucks.
In 2021, 28,526 people crossed the English Channel in small boats to the United Kingdom, according to official data. In 2020 there were 8,404.
Organizations working with refugees have already expressed concern about the agreement, highlighting the record of the Rwandan government and its president, Paul Kagame, in protecting human rights.
3
