It is the first time in eleven days that the British government – which updates data on these illegal crossings daily – has reported boats in the English Channel, marked by violent winds and seas, in late April.

In a bid to control illegal crossings in the English Channel since mid-April, the British Navy reported 254 people on board seven boats this Sunday in a bid to better trace them. Images published in British media show migrants continuing to arrive in Dover on Monday.

In total, around 7,000 people have reached British shores since the beginning of the year, according to a count by the PA agency. This is three times more than the balance sheet of the corresponding period last year.

controversial law

While Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made the fight against illegal immigration his priority after Brexit, crossings continue to rise, tripling in 2021, one marked by the deaths of 27 migrants in a shipwreck in late November. The year.

According to the Interior Ministry, more than 2,500 people made these dangerous crossings in 2021, compared to 8,466 in 2020, 1,843 in 2019 and 299 in 2018.

To discourage crossings, the government last week instituted a controversial reform of the right of asylum into law that specifically plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda while they request asylum.