LONDON: Almost 700 migrants and asylum seekers crossed the Channel to Britain in a single day this week, a new record for the year, the UK government said Tuesday.
The latest arrivals suggest the government’s controversial policy to deport those attempting the dangerous crossing to Rwanda has so far failed to deter them.
The defense ministry said 696 migrants arrived on 14 small boats on Monday, the highest daily tally in 2022 and only the second time this year it has topped 600.
Large groups of people, including young children, were reportedly brought ashore at Ramsgate, on the Kent coast in southeast England, before being taken by bus to processing centers.
More than 17,000 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel — one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes — in small boats so far in 2022, according to government figures.
More than 28,500 — most of them young men — arrived on British shores last year. The all-time daily record of 853 was set in November 2021.
The number of crossing fluctuates through the year, depending on weather conditions and enforcement action along the northern French coastline.
In a bid to deter the arrivals, Britain earlier this year unveiled a new policy to send those crossing for processing and permanent resettlement in Rwanda.
However, the first flight due to take off in mid-June was grounded due to legal challenges, and the policy remains stalled.
Britain has been sending France tens of millions of euros annually to help stop the boat crossings, including for extra beach patrols and equipment such as night-vision goggles.
The Times reported this week that interior minister Priti Patel is set to announce the latest financial deal with Paris, despite questions over the arrangement’s value for money.
It has drawn consistent criticism from some ruling Conservative MPs, with one senior lawmaker telling the newspaper that Patel was “throwing more good money after bad.”
Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the two Conservative rivals bidding to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have both vowed to maintain the Rwanda policy.
Nearly 700 migrants crossed Channel on Monday in 2022 record: UK
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Nearly 700 migrants crossed Channel on Monday in 2022 record: UK
- The defence ministry said 696 migrants arrived on 14 small boats on Monday, the highest daily tally in 2022
- Large groups of people, including young children, were reportedly brought ashore at Ramsgate
Czech Prime Minister Babiš faces confidence vote as government shifts Ukraine policy
- “I’d like to make it clear that the Czech Republic and Czech citizens will be first for our government,” Babiš said
- Babiš has rejected any financial aid for Ukraine and guarantees for EU loans
PRAGUE: The Czech Republic’s new government led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was set to face a mandatory confidence vote in Parliament over its agenda aimed at steering the country away from supporting Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies.
The debate in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament, where the coalition has a majority of 108 seats, began Tuesday. Every new administration must win the vote to govern.
Babiš, previously prime minister in two governments from 2017-2021, and his ANO, or YES, movement, won big in the country’s October election and formed a majority coalition with two small political groups, the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the right-wing Motorists for Themselves.
The parties, which share admiration for US President Donald Trump, created a 16-member Cabinet.
“I’d like to make it clear that the Czech Republic and Czech citizens will be first for our government,” Babiš said in his speech in the lower house.
The political comeback by Babiš and his new alliance with two small government newcomers are expected to significantly redefine the nation’s foreign and domestic policies.
Unlike the previous pro-Western government, Babiš has rejected any financial aid for Ukraine and guarantees for EU loans to the country fighting the Russian invasion, joining the ranks of Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia.
But his government would not abandon a Czech initiative that managed to acquire some 1.8 million much-needed artillery shells for Ukraine only last year on markets outside the EU on condition the Czechs would only administer it but would not contribute money.
The Freedom party sees no future for the Czechs in the EU and NATO, and wants to expel most of 380,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country.
The Motorists, who are in charge of the environment and foreign ministries, rejected the EU Green Deal and proposed revivals of the coal industry.
