Channel Chaos: Nearly 300 Tiny Boats Crossed This Year
More than 10,000 migrants have paid criminal gangs to smash through the English Channel border since January. Despite grim weather in April and May, the numbers have surged well past last year’s figures.
Mass Rescues Off Dover and Dungeness
Yesterday, 198 people were rescued from four cramped inflatable boats near Dover and Dungeness. Each tiny craft was crammed with around 50 desperate passengers.
On Tuesday, a staggering 335 migrants set off aboard ten small boats. Two ran into trouble, forcing 86 passengers to be saved and taken back to France.
The other 249 were picked up in UK waters and brought ashore at Dover, where they were processed and added to the UK asylum system.
So far this week, roughly 500 migrants have crossed the Channel after a brief weather-enforced pause on people smuggling.
Rwanda Deportation Flights Set to Begin June 14
The Home Office confirmed the first group of asylum seekers have received formal Removal Direction letters. They’re scheduled to be flown to Rwanda on June 14.
This follows PM Boris Johnson’s April deal with Rwanda, in which the UK agreed to send an undisclosed number of asylum seekers there.
As part of the pact, the UK will initially pay £120 million to Kigali. Additional funds will cover housing and integration costs for each person relocated.
Despite Home Secretary Priti Patel’s vow to push ahead with the first flight, the Home Office expects court battles to try and block the deportations.
