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Sep 22 2024

More than 700 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday | UK News

More than 700 migrants crossed the English Channel in 11 small boats yesterday, government figures show.

The total figure is up 1% on the number of people who had made the crossing by this time last year, but is 20% down on 2022.

Home Office data shows 707 people were detected coming across yesterday – one of the highest daily figures this year.

It follows three days where there were no crossings detected at all.

Saturday’s figure is lower than the 801 migrants who arrived on the UK’s shores in small boats on the same day the week before.

The highest number of arrivals in one day this year so far is 882 in 15 boats on 18 June.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”

It comes after eight men died earlier this month with six people, including a 10-month-old baby, being taken to hospital after a boat with 53 migrants on board crashed into rocks off the coast of Ambleteuse in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France.

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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced this month that £75m would be used to boost the number of border security officers amid the government’s bid to crack down on people smugglers, using money redirected from the scrapped Rwanda deportation plan.

The cash will also pay for hidden cameras and better monitoring technology as the Home Office sets up its new Border Security Command, led by a former police chief, as it aims to speed up investigations and increase the likelihood of successful prosecutions.

Earlier this year, it was also announced an extra 100 specialist investigators will be allocated to the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of efforts to curb Channel crossings.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also said during a visit to Rome he was “very interested” in Italy’s efforts to curb levels of irregular immigration.

The “dramatic reductions” in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea into Italy is something the government wants to understand, he added.

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Sep 6 2024

Royal Navy pilot killed in helicopter crash in Channel named as Lieutenant Rhodri Leyshon | UK News

A Royal Navy pilot killed when a helicopter ditched in the Channel has been named as 31-year-old Lieutenant Rhodri Leyshon.

The aircraft came down on Wednesday during night-flying exercises with aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Three people were on board the Merlin Mk4 when it ditched off the Dorset coast.

The other crew were rescued and taken to hospital but the Ministry of Defence said their injuries are not serious.

“Rhod was so immeasurably loved by his parents, siblings, partner, friends and family and he was devoted to them. Our lives will never be the same without him,” said a family statement.

“We are all so very proud of the talented, passionate, strong and loyal man he was. We will always have him in our hearts. Our wonderful boy.”

Lieutenant Leyshon was a “shining light with a bright future”, said commanding officer Colonel Mark Johnson, from Yeovilton airbase in Somerset.

“He epitomised our team spirit and his loss leaves a huge hole in all our hearts,” he added.

Lt Leyshon joined the Wales URNU (University Royal Naval Unit) in 2010 and was commissioned in 2014.

The Royal Navy described him as one of its “most trusted and highly capable aircraft captains and instructors”.

He served with 845 Naval Air Squadron and had been deployed to the US, Caribbean and Norway.

For the last 18 months, he served with 846 Naval Air Squadron.

“I flew with Lt Leyshon just a few days ago and personally attest to both his professionalism as a pilot and his warmth as a character,” said Air Vice-Marshal Alastair Smith.

“He will be sorely missed by the squadron, the Commando Helicopter Force and the wider Joint Aviation Command.”

Tracking data showed two Merlins from Yeovilton operating off Dorset on Wednesday, with both airborne at 8.40pm but disappearing by 8.52pm.

An investigation into the incident is under way.

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Merlin helicopters do not have ejection seats so crew must try to land in a major emergency,” said Sky News military analyst Sean Bell.

He said personnel undertake extensive training on how to free themselves in a ditching scenario.

The Merlin Mk4 is used by Royal Marines and has been deployed globally for disaster relief.

According to the Royal Navy, it is considered the “world’s most advanced amphibious battlefield helicopter” and can carry up to 24 troops.

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Sep 6 2024

Home secretary to chair summit on smuggling gangs following deaths in Channel | Politics News

The home secretary will meet with ministers and members of law enforcement for an operational summit that will set out the government’s plan to tackle small boats in the Channel.

Yvette Cooper will be joined by at the headquarters of the National Crime Agency in London by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Attorney General Lord Hermer as well as representatives from the NCA, Border Force and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

“Smashing the gangs” was one of Sir Keir Starmer’s key pledges to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel after his party pledged to scrap the Conservatives’ Rwanda scheme to send those arriving illegally into the UK to the African nation.

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Shortly after taking office, Labour announced it would divert tens of millions of pounds from the Rwanda scheme to set up a new Border Security Command (BSC) in a bid to tackle illegal migration.

The party is also pressing ahead with the previous government’s plan to reopen two immigration centres in a bid to stop small boat crossings.

The summit on Friday comes following the deaths of at least 12 people in the Channel this week, including 10 women and girls.

Part of the government’s strategy will be to look at how smugglers operate and how the government can better collaborate with Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency.

Ms Cooper said: “Exploiting vulnerable people is at the heart of the business model of these despicable criminal smuggling gangs. Women and children were packed into an unsafe boat which literally collapsed in the water this week. At least 12 people were killed as part of this evil trade. We will not rest until these networks have been dismantled and brought to justice.  

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“The last two months has seen encouraging progress, with significant seizures of boats and equipment in Europe. But there is work to do, and the Border Security Command will bring all the relevant bodies together to investigate, arrest and prosecute these networks, as well as deepen our ties with key international partners. 

“At the same time, we are swiftly removing those with no right to be in the UK, which will ensure we have a fair, firm and functioning asylum system where the rules are respected and enforced.”  

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Aug 18 2024

Nearly 500 migrants crossed Channel in small boats on Saturday | UK News

Nearly 500 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday, the Home Office has said.

The latest figures show that 492 people made the crossing in nine boats – after a week that saw hundreds more make the journey.

Some 107 arrived on Wednesday, 125 on Monday and 703 last Sunday, the figures reveal.

The combined total of 1,427 in seven days takes the provisional total for the year so far to 19,066.

More crossings tend to occur in calmer weather and winds have been lighter in the Channel over the period.

Last Sunday’s figure was the highest number of daily crossings since Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister and his spokesman last week said the government expects to see more over the summer.

The highest number of arrivals recorded in a single day so far this year was 882 on 18 June, with the second highest of 711 on 1 May – both under the previous government before the general election.

Immigration now tops the list of issues that Britons consider most important – for the first time since 2016 – according to a new poll by Ipsos released on Friday.

The new Labour government has promised to “smash the gangs” bringing migrants across the Channel by creating a new Border Security Command.

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Officers will be granted new powers under the Counter Terrorism Act to allow them to conduct stop and searches at the border, carry out financial investigations and issue search and seizure warrants targeting organised immigration crime.

Since coming into government, Sir Keir has also announced £84m of funding for African and Middle Eastern countries in an attempt to tackle the migration crisis “at source”.

He has said the money will go towards health and education initiatives, as well as humanitarian support, to address the reasons people flee their homes in the first place.

But the Tory opposition has been critical of the Labour’s decision to ditch the previous government’s Rwanda plan, which ministers at the time argued would deter Channel crossings.

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Jun 19 2024

Highest number of people cross English Channel in single day so far this year | UK News

Some 882 people crossed the English Channel on Tuesday, which is the highest number on a single day so far this year.

The Home Office said 15 boats were detected, suggesting an average of about 59 people per boat.

Having 15 boats cross in a single day has only happened twice in the past year – the last occurrence being in September last year.

The number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 12,313, which is 18% higher than the total at the equivalent point last year, when it was 10,472.

It’s also 5% higher than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 11,690.

There were 29,437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

The government has promised to “stop small boats”, but made clear that does not mean there will be zero crossings.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has not defined how low a number they are targeting.

The tally of crossings since Mr Sunak became prime minister in October 2022 is almost 50,000, now standing at 49,376.

More than 2,000 arrivals have been recorded since the general election was called on 22 May, with 2,431 people crossing as immigration forms a key campaign battleground.

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As the recent migrant crisis unfolded, 126,658 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel over the past six and a half years, according to data recorded since the start of 2018.

Some 81,677 people have made the journey since the government struck the stalled deal to send migrants to Rwanda in April 2022.

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Apr 26 2024

Channel migrant dinghy in which five people died packed with people carrying weapons and fighting – survivor | World News

The migrant dinghy in which five people died was chaotic, overloaded and packed with people carrying weapons and fighting, according to one of the passengers who was on board, speaking exclusively to Sky News.

Heivin, 18, confirmed the boat was stormed by a rival group of migrants, armed with sticks and knives, as it was preparing to set off.

She said: “People were fighting, people were getting stepped on, they were dying and being thrown off.”

She said she fell into the water but was pulled out by another person on the boat. Two other passengers who fell into the water, including a young girl, drowned. Three other people died on the boat.

Heivin said she “really hated” the group of people who hijacked their boat, insisting they should take the blame for what happened.

“They caused a huge tragedy,” she said.

“It was because of them that people died.

“If they hadn’t come and started fighting, none of this would have happened.”

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The tragedy happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the waters off the French coastal town of Wimereux.

The boat, which launched with 112 people on board, stopped on a sandbar only a few hundred metres from the shore.

By the time emergency services arrived, it was clear people had died, both on the boat and in the water.

“I fell into the water but a man helped me up,” Heivin said.

“Everyone was climbing aboard and there were too many people – over 110 of us.

“I had tried to be at the front, but after I fell in the water I sat on the edge of the boat and didn’t go towards the other end – that’s where people were fighting.

“I thank God that I didn’t get into the top part of the dinghy. I would have suffocated. I thank God for that every day.”

She said her group, comprising between 50 and 60 people, had arrived at the beach in Wimereux after following the instructions of the people smugglers who had taken their money in exchange for arranging a passage to Britain.

Hidden away, they had waited for the smugglers to prepare the dinghy. She then saw police officers and was told simply to run towards the water.

At that point, the rival group emerged as well, clambering into the boat along with the people who had paid the smugglers.

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Heivin said she saw migrants from this group carrying sticks and knives, squaring up to both the police and the original passengers.

When the boat set off, exceptionally overladen, it meandered towards the Channel, but there was still fighting and it is clear that some people were being crushed.

“I was aware there was a fight,” Heivin said.

“They were shouting that people were stuck underneath other people, that they couldn’t get out, that some were falling under people’s feet.”

Heivin has spent seven months travelling across Europe since leaving Iraq. She said she wanted to get to Britain because “it is a better country for me, definitely in terms of the language but also, in many other other ways, it is better than the rest of Europe”.

She’s made 30 attempts to cross the Channel, but has failed each time. Sometimes it has been the French police who have destroyed boats while other times the boat on which she was travelling broke down. One time, the boat failed only an hour from British waters.

She is undeterred by the trauma that she underwent, however, and she intends to try again to reach Britain as soon as possible. “Perhaps this weekend,” she said.

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Apr 25 2024

Fourth person arrested over small boat Channel crossing deaths | UK News

A fourth person has been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences after five migrants including a child died while trying to cross the Channel.

The 18-year-old from Sudan was arrested yesterday evening at Manston in Kent and is now in custody being questioned, a National Crime Agency statement said.

It added that a 19-year-old from Sudan initially detained on Tuesday evening had been released without charge and was now being dealt with by immigration authorities.

“Two other men, a 22-year-old Sudanese national and a 22-year-old from South Sudan arrested yesterday (24 April) continue to be held,” the statement added.

It comes after a seven-year-old girl, a woman and three men died during the attempt to cross the English Channel on Tuesday.

A further 55 people believed to have been on board the boat have also been identified and will continue to be questioned by police in the next few days.

Craig Turner, deputy director of investigations for the National Crime Agency, said: “This tragic incident demonstrates the threat to life posed by these crossings and brings into focus why it is so important to target these criminal gangs involved in organising them.”

Sky News was told on Tuesday that around 50 people who had paid for a place on board the boat helped carry it down the beach in Wimereux, northern France, before getting to the waterfront.

It was at this point that another group of people emerged and pushed their way on to the boat, threatening those on board.

It meant that a total of 112 people were on the boat that was only meant to safely accommodate 20 people.

According to the latest data from the UK government, a total of 402 migrants were detected crossing the Channel in seven small boats on Tuesday alone – an average of 57 people per boat.

From 17-22 April there were no detected crossings.

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Jan 28 2024

Channel 4 to unveil deeper job cuts as ad downturn bites | Business News

Channel 4 will announce plans this week for deeper-than-expected job cuts amid a steep downturn in the broadcast advertising market.

Sky News has learnt that the state-owned broadcaster will say on Monday that it is cutting nearly 250 roles, a figure equating to just over 15% of its full-time workforce of more than 1,300 people.

Industry sources said this weekend that while the number of people being made redundant would be approximately 200, in line with earlier reports of the cost-cutting, close to an additional 50 roles were also being axed by chief executive Alex Mahon.

It is expected to be the biggest bloodletting in the history of Channel 4, which launched in 1982 and which came close to being privatised last year.

Ministers ultimately decided against selling the company despite having hired bankers from JP Morgan to oversee an auction.

This week’s job cuts will affect a range of departments at the Gogglebox and Great British Bake-Off producer.

Ms Mahon has described the ad market’s decline as “market shock territory” for the company.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said it was “a wholly commercially funded and self-reliant broadcaster known for producing iconoclastic programmes and generating enormous value for the UK creative economy”.

“Like every organisation, we are having to deal with an extremely uncertain economy in the short term and the need to accelerate our transformation to become a wholly digital public service broadcaster in the long term.

“As a result, we need to continue to divest from our linear channels business and simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation.”

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Jan 13 2024

Migrants cross English Channel to UK for first time in 2024 | UK News

Migrants crossing the English Channel to the UK have been reported for the first time in 2024.

Arrivals had not been recorded since 16 December, according to Home Office figures, with poor weather conditions potentially contributing to the lack of activity at sea.

It means there had been 27 days of no crossings until today.

This is the longest gap in small boat arrivals for just over five years.

It is also the first time no Channel crossings took place on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day, for five years.

A group of people believed to be migrants were seen being brought to shore in Dover, Kent, this morning.

They were seen arriving in a Border Force vessel.

This means the number of migrants crossing the Channel has fallen year-on-year for the first time since current records began in 2018.

The provisional annual total for crossings in 2023 – 29,437 – is 36% lower than the record 45,774 crossings for the whole of 2022. But the 2023 figure is still the second highest annual total on record, above the figure for 2021 (28,526).

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The 27 day period of no crossings before today is the longest since a hiatus of 48 days between 2 September and 19 October 2018, government data shows.

Home Secretary James Cleverly insisted the weather was not a “contributory factor” to falling migrant crossings when questioned last week, highlighting how the number of good sailing days recorded by officials for the year was only four fewer than the previous period.

He claimed the decrease was instead because of co-operation with Europe, disrupting the supply chain of engines and boats, and “going after the money of these people smugglers”.

The government argued the figures were evidence of the UK’s £480m agreement with France to beef up efforts to stop migrants making the journey starting to pay off and the effectiveness of a fast-track returns deal struck with Albania.

But the Immigration Services Union, which represents border staff, said the drop in arrivals was likely to be a “glitch”, with “higher numbers” of Channel crossings expected this year.

Mr Cleverly also set himself a target of meeting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s “stop the boats” pledge by the end of the year – a deadline Downing Street later refused to repeat.

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Nov 23 2023

Two migrants found dead in Channel after trying to reach UK in small boat | World News

Two migrants have died in the English Channel after trying to reach the UK from France.

A man and a woman, both believed to be in their 30s, were found lifeless at around 1.30pm on Wednesday near Boulogne-Sur-Mer, the local prosecutor told Le Monde.

They were among 60 people found on board a dinghy that had got into distress.

Several of the group had fallen into the sea and were suffering from hypothermia when they were brought to shore for treatment.

But medics were unable to save the two people found unresponsive.

They are the seventh and eighth migrants to die at sea off the French coast so far this year.

The six others – all from Afghanistan and aged between 21 and 34 – lost their lives on 12 August.

Reports of the newest deaths come ahead of the two-year anniversary of the single greatest loss of life in the Channel in recent history when 27 migrants drowned on 24 November 2021.

At least 27,708 people have crossed to the UK aboard small boats so far this year, according to government data compiled and analysed by Sky News.

This is 34% lower than at the same time in 2022, when 42,206 people had succeeded in making the dangerous journey.

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Despite the overall number of people making the life-threatening trip in 2023 being lower than last year, the number of people being packed aboard each boat has increased – a sign that smugglers are seeking to make more profit, at the expense of safety.

An average of almost 49 people have been found on board each boat that made it to the UK so far this year. It was 41 per boat last year and just 13 in 2020.

On Thursday, revised official figures showed that net migration to the UK in 2022 was at a record high of 745,000.

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