The landslide victory of the Labour Party last year signalled a change in direction in managing the UK's immigration policy. However six months later, arrival numbers continue to increase, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer facing growing criticism.
Sir Keir Starmer has now been serving as Britain's prime minister for a little over six months, but his track record on managing irregular immigration channels into the country during that time has repeatedly come under fire.
Provisional data from the Home Office shows that 25,135 migrants have been detected crossing the English Channel since Starmer won the election on July 4, 2024, with the arrival numbers since the beginning of 2025 already approaching the 2,000 mark.
Just the past weekend, a total of 240 people made the journey from the French coast to the United Kingdom in four boats — the second-highest number of arrivals on a single day so far this year.
On January 13, 260 migrants were detected crossing the Channel on a single day.
Read AlsoCan Labour repair the United Kingdom’s fragmented asylum system?
Death in the English Channel
On Saturday, (February 15) the French authorities confirmed that one person died on board a boat that got into difficulty off Calais, and they rescued 70 others. Two people were found unconscious on board the boat, reported the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP). One person could be brought round, but the other person could not be revived.
A helicopter was deployed in the area to check that no one else was missing on the surface of the water, confirmed the French authorities. AFP reported that only about half of those on board the boat had been wearing life jackets. The latest reported death brings the toll to at least five since the beginning of the year, reported AFP.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) meanwhile stresses that the English Channel is becoming increasingly dangerous as a migration route, with smugglers resorting to more and more desperate measures.
The IOM says that at least 78 people died last year while attempting to make the journey, while some NGOs put the number of victims slightly higher at around 88.
Regardless of which number is correct, 2024 was the deadliest year on record in the Channel since 2018.
Disbanding smuggling gangs
A UK Home Office (Interior Ministry) spokesperson said that officials continue to work to fight irregular migration patterns, stressing that they "want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security."
"The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice, "the statement further read.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper believes that the best strategy to control immigration is to change laws that would give authorities stronger powers to address the business of "vile gang networks."
She said in January that people smugglers "are profiting from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk" and that they should not "be allowed to get away with it."
To this end, the UK government announced at the beginning of the year that in its fight against smugglers it was planning to introduce a series of harsh punishments against suspected smugglers and those who aid them, including travel bans, asset freezes, social media blackouts, phone restrictions as well as harsher prison sentences.
However, the proposed changes will have to be discussed in parliament first before being signed in as law, which could take up several months.
Read AlsoUK: Migration crackdown risks trapping victims in slavery
Britain: unwelcoming, unaccommodating, unattractive
Meanwhile, the government is also trying to make irregular migration to the UK less attractive to migrants themselves.
As a series of proposed changes to Britain's citizenship laws, the government said it wants to "refuse" the prospect of ever gaining full British citizenship to people who had entered the UK "illegally" — "regardless of when the illegal entry occurred."
The policy paper suggests that "(a) person who applies for citizenship from February 10, 2025, who has previously arrived without a required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorization, having made a dangerous journey will normally be refused citizenship."
The UK's Refugee Council said at present, this new guidance could stop well over 70,000 people from obtaining citizenship, questioning the legality of the proposal.
Read AlsoChannel crossings: Why Britain cannot simply send back migrants
with dpa