Royal National Lifeboat Institute crews saved the lives of 108 migrants crossing the English Channel last year, the British charity has announced, publishing figures for the first time.
The RNLI said it “tasked and launched” 290 times in response to incidents involving men, women and children to rescue people attempting to make the “perilous” journey in 2022.
That accounted for 3 per cent of the 9,312 lifeboat launches throughout the year, which saved 506 people nationwide, including beach lifeguard rescues.
“This crossing and this rescue demand is very, very dangerous and the fact we have saved 108 lives just shows how perilous this journey is,” head of lifeboats Simon Ling said.
“Men, women and children getting into overcrowded dinghies crossing one of the most treacherous shipping channels anywhere in the world.
“This type of rescue is very challenging for a number of reasons, be that the number of casualties, the level of trauma that these casualties present.
“So, for us, it has been really important to understand what the risk is and work with our teams who face this unprecedented demand and come up with training, support and equipment that they feel suitably equipped to deal with this challenge.”
A record 45,755 people made the crossing in 2022, prompting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to make tackling small boat crossings a priority for his government this year.
So far, 8,858 people have made the crossing this year, with the highest number, 616, being picked up from 12 boats on Sunday, June 11.
In November 2021, 31 people died while trying to cross the Channel in a dinghy.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has accused the charity of behaving like a "taxi service for illegal immigration".
“We have never released these figures before, but they illustrate clearly that our charity's work in the Channel is genuinely lifesaving,” RNLI chief executive Mark Dowie said.
“Sadly, we know there have been incidents in the Channel which have resulted in deaths, but without the brave actions of our crews, who are ready to answer their pagers day or night, 365 days a year, we can be certain there would have been more.
“The RNLI is unashamed and makes no apology for staying committed to and focused on the purpose we were created for, nearly 200 years ago – to save lives at sea.”
The charity, which was formed in 1824, has 238 lifeboat stations around the country which are co-ordinated by the coastguard.
It has brought in translation cards to aid communication with people from a variety of countries, as well as new equipment to assist in its rescues, including inflatable horseshoe life rings.
It is also developing an inflatable platform, known as sea stairs, which can help to speed up the recovery of large numbers of people from the water on to an all-weather lifeboat.
Mr Ling said that new auto-inflate horseshoes and giant doughnuts had been “proven to save lives”.
UK government unveils 'robust' bill to stop migrant Channel crossings – in pictures
He said sea stairs currently under development could help in getting 20 casualties out of the water in 90 seconds, compared with the one minute per person of regular lifeboat rescue methods.
“In the context of a mass rescue situation, we believe this to be a game-changing piece of equipment,” Mr Ling said.
“The new equipment and procedures may have been developed for use in mass casualty scenarios in the Channel, but they have potentially widespread lifesaving application across the RNLI – and worldwide – for responding to any incident involving large numbers of casualties, such as a passenger ferry which is sinking or on fire.”
Volunteer coxswain Jason Adams, said: “Some of the kit has been used and the horse shoes have proved to be very effective. They save lives. Without them, there's definitely a few people who wouldn't be here today.”
Last week, Mr Sunak revealed that two more barges would be used to house about 1,000 migrants as he sought to defend his plan to tackle illegal immigration, six months after he unveiled his Illegal Migration Bill under the “stop the boats” initiative.
Highlighting statistics indicating a 20 per cent drop from last year in the number of illegal arrivals, he said his approach was having an effect.
“My message is this: Our plan is starting to work,” he told a press conference in Dover, Kent.
Mr Sunak said his administration would continue to move people to alternative sites, including disused military sites and vessels in a bid to bring down the £6 million-a-day ($7.4 million) cost to the taxpayer of housing migrants in hotels.
He declined to say where the barges “that will accommodate another 1,000” people would be stationed but said they were “on their way” to the UK.
