More migrants cross Channel so far in 2024 than in whole of last year
by Kit Heren · LBCBy Kit Heren
More migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats in the first ten months of 2023 than in the whole of last year.
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A total of 29, 578 people have made the dangerous crossing so far this year, after 424 arrived on British shores on Friday.
Some 29,437 migrants crossed the Channel in 2023, a significant drop on 2022, when 45,728 people crossed.
Some 424 people crossed the Channel yesterday. Eleven boats, carrying 509 people, made the perilous trip on Thursday, the Home Office said.
Three people died on Wednesday after a migrant boat sank in the Channel.
Read more: Three dead after packed migrant boat sinks in Channel
So far this year, 47 deaths have been reported by the French coastguard, including a baby who died when a boat got into difficulty on Thursday evening.
French coastguard officials confirmed they rescued 76 migrants in three separate boats on Thursday after they got into difficulty while making the journey.
These deaths come after the UK and other G7 nations agreed an anti-smuggling action plan designed to boost co-operation in stopping small boats.
The Home Office said this includes joint investigations and intelligence-sharing in a bid to target criminal smuggling routes.
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The action plan also details "working collaboratively" with social media companies to monitor the internet and different platforms to prevent them being used to enable migrant smuggling and people trafficking.
This includes calling on social media companies "to do more to respond to online content that advertises migrant smuggling services".
A Home Office spokesman said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security."