More than 880 people crossed the English Channel in just one day. British Prime Minister Sunak actually wanted to stop illegal migration to Great Britain. Two weeks before the general election, he is coming under increasing pressure.
It is a life-threatening crossing in small boats across the English Channel to Great Britain: on Tuesday, more than 880 people were registered as having taken this route. This is the highest number recorded in one day this year.
In total, 12,313 people have reached Great Britain via the estuary since the beginning of the year, which is 18 percent higher than at the same time last year, when the number was 10,472.
The fact that so many people are making it to Britain this way again is not good news for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He has made migration one of the top issues in his election campaign for the July 4 general election and promised to stop the boats.
Controversial agreement with Rwanda
To achieve this, the conservative head of government wants people who have entered the country irregularly to be deported to Rwanda without their asylum application being examined and regardless of their origin. This plan should actually have been implemented long ago. Great Britain has already transferred the equivalent of around 284 million euros to the East African country. However, with the exception of one migrant who left voluntarily, not a single migrant has been deported.
According to Sunak, this agreement is intended to have a deterrent effect. There is no evidence of this so far. Experts doubt that it will stop migrants from attempting the dangerous crossing in small boats across the English Channel to Great Britain.
If Sunak is defeated in the British general election in two weeks, the deportations may never take place. The opposition Labour Party has a huge lead over Sunak's Tories in the polls and wants to overturn the asylum pact with Rwanda.
