Photos of French officials watching migrants begin their journey across the English Channel have emerged after GB News exclusively revealed that over 1,200 arrived on the shores of the UK on Saturday.
The latest arrivals have smashed the daily total for this year, as people smugglers pushed out multiple migrant boats from a huge stretch of French coastline.
Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, took to X to express his anger at the migrant arrivals, writing: "As I warned earlier, huge numbers of young males have crossed the Channel today…. well over 1,000. Our country is in peril."
Several British and French lifeboats had to be called in to help border patrol vessels on both sides of the Channel cope with the large numbers of people crossing.
Photos of French officials watching migrants begin their journey across the English Channel have emerged
PA
That provisional figure is a huge leap from the previous one-day record of 825 migrants who made the illegal journey on May 21.
The latest surge in migrant arrivals follows an improvement in weather conditions on Saturday.
The UK pays France £480million in an Anglo-French deal agreed by Rishi Sunak in March 2023 to double officers patrolling beaches to 800, set up a joint command centre and a detention centre to stop migrants leaving France.
Despite this, French authorities are intercepting fewer Channel migrants than at any time since the first small boats arrived, with the latest figures revealing they prevented 8,347 asylum seekers from reaching UK waters in small boats so far this year.
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Several British and French lifeboats had to be called in to help border patrol vessels on both sides of the Channel cope with the large numbers of people crossing
PA
This figure is down from an estimated 45 per cent last year, 46.9 per cent in 2023 and 42.4 per cent in 2022.
Today's arrivals take the number of migrants who have made the illegal journey so far this year to around 14,700.
The coastguard turned to fishing boats to help a yacht which was taking on water, because all nearby maritime rescue assets were involved in dealing with migrants.
Some of the migrant boats were launched from beaches near Dunkirk this morning, around the same time as a flotilla of 'little ships' set off to return to the UK.
Yesterday's arrivals take the number of migrants who have made the illegal journey so far this year to around 14,700
PA
Speaking on Starmer's commitment to "smash the gangs", Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Over a thousand illegal immigrants in a single day, boats flooding the Channel, Border Force stretched beyond breaking point, and even fishing vessels drafted in because our maritime rescue services are overwhelmed.
"A nation reduced to chaos on the high seas while Keir Starmer hides behind platitudes and process"
“Labour has completely lost control of our borders. Their pledge to smash gangs in tatters.
WThey scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it even began and now the boats won’t stop coming. So far, this is already the worst year on record.
"Labour have failed on every front, and Britain is paying the price. This is a day of shame for Labour.”
The latest surge in migrant arrivals follows an improvement in weather conditions on Saturday
PA
A Home Office spokesman said: "We all 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 and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
“That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.
"Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders."
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