Latest news with #Channelcrossing
Telegraph
4 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Migrant and his dog rescued from adrift Channel dinghy
A migrant and his small dog adrift in a rubber dinghy in the English Channel have been rescued by the Coastguard. The man, who gave his name as Barry and is thought to be an Afghan, was rescued off the East Sussex coast on Wednesday night after a red flare was spotted at 6.30pm. Emergency services launched a large-scale operation and brought him and his dog ashore at 7.30pm. The man was heard telling rescuers he found the dog, which he called Bella, apparently a Lancashire Heeler, in a migrant camp in France. It is believed they had been drifting for three days in the tiny dinghy after the engine failed. A spokesman for the Coastguard said: 'HM Coastguard has responded to reports of a person in the water in waters between Brighton Marina and Pier. 'A rescue helicopter was sent, alongside lifeboats from Shoreham and Brighton, and Coastguard rescue teams from Shoreham and Newhaven. 'A man was located safe and well in a vessel that had reportedly experienced engine issues.' A spokesman for Sussex Police said: 'Police assisted HM Coastguard following a report of a man in a boat off the coast of Brighton on Wednesday. 'The man and a dog were safely brought to shore and passed to Border Force officials.' The latest Channel crossing incident comes after Sir Keir Starmer admitted that the small-boats crisis was getting worse, and ahead of an expected surge in crossings due to warmer weather. The number of people arriving on small boats after crossing the Channel is more than 22 per cent higher so far this year than it was by this time in 2024. From the beginning of January until June 14, 16,317 migrants crossed to the UK. Last year, 13,489 had made the journey by the end of June. On Monday, another 228 people crossed in four boats, according to the latest Home Office figures. A further 134 people had managed to reach the UK on Saturday, in two small boats. On Friday, more than 900 migrants crossed in 14 boats – the single largest number for several weeks. Last Thursday, 52 reached the UK coast in one boat, and the day before 400 had made it across in six small boats.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
Number of overcrowded small boats carrying more than 80 migrants across Channel quadruples
The number of overcrowded small boats arriving in the UK carrying more than 80 people has quadrupled in three years, casting doubt over Labour's pledge to stop people from making the dangerous journey. Fresh analysis from the Home Office showed that 33 boats made the perilous journey while carrying more than 80 people in the year to April 2025 - up from eight in the year to April 2022. While the overall number of dinghies - typically made to carry up to 20 people safety - arriving declined from 1,116 in 2022 to 738 in 2025, more people have been crammed onto each vessel for the crossing. The Home Office data showed that the number of days with good weather conditions for migrants to cross the English Channel this year has more than doubled compared to previous years. The government published the statistics just days after a record number of daily arrivals for this year when 1,195 migrants made the journey to the UK in 19 boats on Saturday. It comes despite Labour in December claiming that the government had broken the link between favourable weather conditions and an influx of migrant crossings. There were 60 so-called 'red' days between January 1 and April 30 this year, when factors such as wind speed, wave height and the likelihood of rain meant crossings were classed by officials as 'likely' or 'highly likely'. Some 11,074 migrants arrived in the UK during these four months after crossing the Channel. By contrast, there were 27 red days in the same period last year, less than half the number in 2025, with 7,567 arrivals recorded – nearly a third lower than the total for this year. There were also 27 red days in the first four months of 2022, with 23 red days in 2023, with 6,691 and 5,946 arrivals in these periods, respectively. Reacting to the figures, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Labour seems to think praying for bad weather is a good border security strategy. 'This is a weak government, with no plan to end illegal immigrants crossing the Channel. 'Blaming the weather for the highest ever crossing numbers so far this year is the border security equivalent of a lazy student claiming 'the dog ate my homework'.' Assessments of the likelihood of migrant crossings are prepared for the Home Office by the Met Office. Red days mean the probability of migrant activity in the Channel is greater than 55 per cent, with crossings classed as 'likely' or 'highly likely'. The analysis is based on data recorded in the Dover Strait and does not consider wider factors such as the availability of dinghies. The cumulative total arrivals for the year is 14,812 - the highest for the first five months of a year since data collection began in 2018. Gunes Kalkan, of Safe Passage International, said the rise only increases the risk to people's lives. 'This indicates the government's approach isn't working, as the smugglers continue to exploit the lack of safe routes for refugees, cramming more and more people dangerously on each boat,' he said. 'If this government is serious about saving lives and stopping the smugglers, it must open safe routes and expand refugee family reunion.' Downing Street said the government wanted to break the link between favourable weather conditions and the number of English Channel crossings by small boats but acknowledged there were 'no quick fixes'. Meanwhile, officials are understood to be pessimistic about the prospect of bringing numbers down this year, with measures not expected to start paying off until 2026. The government has vowed to crack down on people smuggling gangs, including by handing counter-terror-style powers to law enforcement agencies under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, currently going through Parliament. However, they have faced accusations of mimicking Reform UK, after they began publishing videos of early morning raids and Sir Keir Starmer echoed the language of Enoch Powell in a major speech earlier this year. A Home Office spokesman said: 'This government is restoring grip to the broken asylum system it inherited, that saw a whole criminal smuggling enterprise allowed to develop, where gangs have been able to exploit periods of good weather to increase the rate of crossings for too long.' The spokesman added that 9,000 crossings have been prevented from the French coastline this year.
