Surge in Channel Migrant Crossings Fuels UK Immigration Debate

Surge in Channel Migrant Crossings Fuels UK Immigration Debate
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A record 28,076 migrants have crossed the English Channel to Britain in small boats so far this year, marking a 46% increase compared to the same period in 2024, Reuters reported on Monday. This surge has intensified public concern over immigration, currently the top issue in opinion polls, and has sparked ongoing anti-migrant protests outside hotels accommodating asylum seekers.

The record figure was reached following the arrival of 212 migrants in four boats on Sunday alone, according to government data. Demonstrations erupted across the UK over the weekend after a court ordered the eviction of asylum seekers from a hotel in Epping, northeast of London—another flashpoint in the immigration debate.

The Labour government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has pledged to phase out the use of hotels for asylum seekers by 2029 and overhaul the asylum system. On Sunday, it announced reforms intended to speed up asylum appeals and reduce a backlog exceeding 100,000 cases.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the current system as “in complete chaos” and said the reforms aim to restore “control and order.” Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, proposed mass deportations of migrants arriving by boat, including withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights and establishing detention centers for 24,000 people.