More than 700 illegal immigrants crossed the English Channel from France to the U.K. on Sunday as the new left-wing government in Westminster struggles to contain the long-running crisis.
Home Office figures released on Monday revealed a total of 703 migrants were escorted to British shores, a new record since Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Labour Party took office last month.
The figure is the third-highest daily total this year, with illegal immigration showing no signs of slowing down under the new administration.
Illegal immigration and asylum are at the forefront of the political debate in Britain currently and were key issues during the general election campaign.
The left-wing Labour Party pledged to scrap the former Conservative government’s Rwanda scheme, which would have seen all migrants who arrive illegally in Britain deported to the African country for offshore asylum processing — a policy former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hoped would deter migrants from making the perilous journey across the waterway and thwart the criminal gangs exploiting the crisis.
Starmer scrapped the scheme in his first few hours in Downing Street, a move that has certainly not helped stop the boats.
Since the start of the year, 18,342 asylum seekers have been registered arriving on British shores, a 13 percent increase over the same period last year. So far this year, 25 people have died during the dangerous crossing.
Mass immigration and a lack of integration have dominated political discourse in Britain recently following the mass stabbing of young girls at a dance class in the northwest town of Southport by a 17-year-old son of two Rwandan asylum seekers last month.
The attack led to mass rioting across the country and a controversial crackdown on free speech by Starmer’s party with dozens of people consequently jailed for posting comments about mass immigration that were deemed to have incited racial hatred.
