So far this year, over 45,000 migrants have made the perilous journey from France to England. By 2021, the figure had dropped to nearly 28,500. Four people died and 39 others were rescued on December 14 after a migrant boat encountered difficulties. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared the small boat crisis a top priority for his administration. The ministry confirmed that the 90 people who arrived on Sunday were taken to the Western Jet Foil processing centre in Dover. “Nobody should put their lives in danger by embarking on dangerous and illegal journeys,” a government spokesperson said. “We will go even further to combat the gangs that are driving this, using every tool at our disposal to deter illegal migration and disrupt the business model of people smugglers.” Mr Sunak announced a slew of measures to combat the problem earlier this month, including the hiring of 700 people to staff a new unit to monitor small boats crossing the Channel. He also promised that more staff would be hired to help clear some of the UK’s backlog of asylum cases by the end of next year.
