An inflatable boat spotted carrying 230 people across the English Channel is a sign that a deal with France to crack down on people smugglers is working, a UK cabinet minister has said.
The vessel – dubbed a mega dinghy – was spotted off the coast of France, crammed with migrants making the perilous journey to Britain.
Recent weeks have seen the number of migrants on a single boat in the English Channel creep up from 165 on July 23 to 173 last week – on a vessel that capsized when it caught fire – before Monday's record-breaking 230.
But the overall number of people crossing is down by around 45 per cent compared to this time last year.
Angela Rayner, a minister in Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s cabinet, said the trend was a result of a £660 million (US$891 million) three-year agreement with France. Under that deal, riot police have been deployed on beaches and payment to the French is based on results.
Mr Rayner said the people smugglers were taking greater risks by putting more people on each boat to make up for being able to make fewer crossings.
“We've seen a reduction in the number of boats that are coming over, and we've also seen a huge increase in the amount of deportations of people that come here illegally,” she told the BBC.
“So we're cracking down on those that are in the country illegally and removing those that shouldn't be here.”
Ms Rayner contrasted the deal with France with a plan recently announced by the right-wing populist Reform UK party to deploy the Royal Navy to stop migrants crossing in small boats. That plan that has been greeted with scepticism.
She said the Labour government would take “actual practical steps on something that is really difficult” and will “work with the French to stop this from happening, and we're already seeing the results of that”.
The increase in numbers also coincided with a “one-in,-one-out” deal with France, under which a migrant arriving in the UK from France by small boat can be returned in exchange for another person coming legally to Britain to claim asylum.
The increase of passengers per boat has also been attributed to efforts by the French and UK authorities to seize the boats and prevent them from getting to people-smuggling gangs.
Ms Rayner condemned “criminal gangs that are putting children and women into vessels that are not seaworthy”.
The picture of the mega dinghy on Monday was taken by a lifeboat crew based at Berck-sur-Mer in northern France.
“Over the past three months, we’ve been seeing more and more 15-metre boats passing through,” said its director, Jean-Marc Lamblin.
Mr Lamblin added that when the 150 migrants per boat figure was recently surpassed, “we didn’t think there could be any more, but there really is no limit now”.
The UK Conservative Party's shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said of the mega dinghy: “This is now beyond a joke.”
“The French authorities could easily have stopped a vessel this size from embarking in shallow waters,” the opposition MP said.
“I recently saw for myself French gendarmes standing by and doing nothing while illegal immigrants boarded in knee-deep water. [Home Secretary] Shabana Mahmood is handing over £660 million of our money while this happens. It’s a disgrace.”
