The British Government has harshly censured the "reckless and dangerous" tactics of human trafficking networks, after an unprecedented group of up to 230 migrants managed to cross the English Channel in a single vessel.
A spokesperson for the Home Office of the United Kingdom has criticized these practices of the smugglers, who "continue to put lives at risk by cramming an ever-increasing number of people into vessels unfit for navigation."
The government representative has emphasized that "we are making progress, with the decrease in the number of crossings in small boats this year and a lower number recorded in July since 2020," although he has stressed that it is necessary to double efforts. In this context, he recalled that London has signed an agreement with Paris to strengthen security deployment on French beaches.
The vessel had departed from the French coast on Sunday night and reached Dover, one of the main ferry ports to the French city of Calais, in the early hours of Monday. This figure surpasses the previous maximum for July, when 165 people managed to cross the English Channel in a single vessel.
In parallel, the leader of the British far-right, Nigel Farage, announced this Monday that a delegation from his party, Reform UK, will travel to El Salvador to learn on the ground about the functioning of its prison system. The visit is part of his proposal to transfer foreign prisoners to prisons in other countries in order to reduce costs.