Attempts to cross English Channel by migrants are up sharply in first half

The United Kingdom continues to harden the tone on the subject and has notably implemented a very controversial strategy consisting in wanting to expel asylum seekers who arrived clandestinely on its soil towards Rwanda.

Le Monde with AFP

After an already record year 2021, attempts at the underground crossing of the English Channel by migrants wanting to join England exploded in the first half of 2022, the Ministry of the Interior said on Monday 20 June, against a background of hardening Migration policy on the British side.

Between the 1 er January and June 13, 2022, “777 crossing events and attempted crossing in Small Boats involving 20,132 candidates (+ 68 % compared to the same period in 2021) have been identified “, according to the ministry.

In 2021, these crossing attempts, which are generally done by pneumatic boats at the start of the northern coast between Calais and Dunkirk, had reached a “record”, with 52,000 people who attempted it and 28,000 migrants having it Successful, according to data from Place Beauvau communicated in January.

asylum seekers expelled to Rwanda

“It should be noted that the rate of defeats is increasingly increasing with 61.39 % of the sea crossings prevented by the French internal security forces (+ 4.2 points compared to the rate of 2021) and 10 090 individuals (+ 65 %) arrested since the start of the year, “said the Ministry of the Interior on Monday.

The United Kingdom continues to harden the tone on the subject and has notably implemented a very controversial strategy consisting in wanting to expel asylum seekers who arrived clandestinely on its soil towards Rwanda, the country with which it has established An agreement denounced by NGOs and human rights defenders.

Last Tuesday, a first charter flight which was to convey up to 130 migrants (notably Iranian, Iraqi, Albanian or Syrians) to Kigali was prevented in extremis by a decision of the European Court of Human Rights, decision that the British government has still described this weekend “scandalous” and “opaque”.

/Media reports.