Great Britain: Cut number of boat migrants by a third by 2023

As of: 1:09 p.m| Reading Time: 2 minutes

DThe number of people crossing the English Channel to Great Britain in small boats has fallen significantly over the past year. Around 29,400 people are expected to cross the strait by 2023, British news agency PA reported on Monday, citing preliminary figures from the Home Office in London. The previous year there were about 45,800. This has dropped to less than a third (36 percent).

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The PA report said it was the first time since records began in 2018 that the number of boat migrants has declined year-on-year. The last crossing of the year was recorded on December 15. Since then, there have been no crossings – probably because of the weather. In particular, the number of Albanian citizens decreased as a result of the treaty with Tirana.

But that was not enough for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's conservative government. A new parliament must be elected in Great Britain by January 2025 and the ruling Tories are trailing the opposition Labor Party in the polls. Sunak has vowed to “stop the boats” and reduce the number of migrants.

To prevent people from crossing the English Channel, London wants to send irregular migrants to Rwanda in the future without examining their asylum applications and regardless of their origin. You should ask security there. There are no plans to return to Great Britain. But the Supreme Court declared the scheme illegal. In order to implement it, the government wants to pass the relevant legislation in the Parliament soon.

A new restriction came into effect on Monday, intended to make it more difficult for foreign students to bring their relatives. Accordingly, only postgraduates can expect British visas for their families. Among other things, generous rules for students led to net immigration of 672,000 people in the twelve months to June 2023 – a much higher figure than a few years ago.