UK Sees Biggest-Ever Migrant Arrival as Boats Get Bigger
Migrants wade into the sea to try to board smugglers' boats in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Gravelines, northern France, on Sept. 27.
Photographer: Sameer al-Doumy/AFP/Getty ImagesThe UK saw the largest number of migrants arrive on a single vessel this weekend, highlighting how the crisis is deteriorating despite Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash” the smuggling gangs ferrying people across the English Channel.
A boat carrying 125 people crossed to England from France on Saturday, the Home Office confirmed to Bloomberg. The incident broke a previous record from August when 107 people crossed in what was described at the time by UK media as a “mega-dinghy” and comes just weeks after Bloomberg reported the first unescorted beach landing of a migrant boat in almost three years.