More than 10,000 migrants have arrived in the UK via the English Channel since the start of the year, a record number reached amid campaigning for the country’s general election.
Illegal immigration is a key issue in the campaign, which officially began on Wednesday, as soon as the prime minister announced the election date, conservative Rishi Sunak. Elections were called for July 4, which came as a surprise as it was earlier than expected.
When he took over the leadership of the British government in October 2022, Sunak pledged to make ending the influx of irregular migrants one of his top priorities.
On Friday, five new boats arrived in the south of England carrying 288 migrants, according to Home Office data released today.
With this additional number, since the beginning of this year, 10,170 people have been able to cross the English Channel that separates the UK and France, 35% more than in 2022.
Many of these immigrants came from Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
The UK government hopes to stop migrants from coming to the UK by deporting thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda.
On Thursday, Rishi Sunak admitted that the highly controversial plan would not be implemented before the elections, but said that if he wins, he would like to see the first flights take off after the elections.
Labour, which has more than 20 percentage points in the polls over the Conservatives (in power since 2010), has vowed to abandon the policy of deporting migrants to Rwanda, criticizing the costly and ineffective “gimmick”.
“The government has lost control of our borders,” said opposition leader and future prime minister Keir Starmer if Labor wins the election.
Labor believes immigration is too high and has pledged to use methods inspired by the fight against terrorism to combat smuggling rings.
