At least 482 migrants crossed the Channel on Wednesday (August 5th) to reach the English coast, the British Home Office said on Thursday, a record bringing to more than 10,000 the number of people who have made the dangerous crossing this year.
The previous daily record, with 430 arrivals in one day, was reached on July 19.
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If the ministry does not communicate a cumulative balance sheet, according to the count of the British press agency PA, more than 10,000 people have crossed the Strait, one of the busiest in the world, since the beginning of the year. aboard small boats, which is much more than during the whole of last year (more than 8,000).
French authorities intercepted eight crossings on Wednesday, preventing 246 people from reaching the UK, according to the UK Home Office. According to Commander Dan O'Mahoney, in charge of the “
underground threat
” in the Channel, “
these figures are unacceptable, which is why we are acting on all fronts
”. "
The
police are
dismantling the smuggling gangs
" and "
the joint work with the French has made it possible to double the number of police officers on French beaches,
" he added.
The question is regularly the source of friction between London and Paris, but the United Kingdom pledged at the end of July to pay France 62.7 million euros in 2021-2022 to finance the strengthening of the presence of French law enforcement agencies on the coasts.