A SMALL boat crossed the English Channel on Friday carrying 128 people — the most to make the journey in a single vessel.
A total of 225 people made the perilous trip on the same day, using three boats, data from the Home Office revealed.
A small boat crossed the English Channel on Friday carrying 128 people (stock image) Credit: PA
Home Sec Shabana Mahmood is seeking to overhaul the asylum system to deter crossings and deport people easier Credit: Alamy
A spokesman said it showed that smuggling gangs were “taking greater risks than ever, with the number of people they are cramming into unseaworthy boats rising year-on-year”.
Despite the record migrants in a single boat, the overall numbers crossing has fallen.
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Some 11,884 people arrived in the six months from the start of January to the end of June.
That is 41 per cent less than the 19,982 that had reached the UK by this point last year.
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It is also 12 per cent down on the 13,489 in the first six months of 2024.
Factors including the weather, the supply of small boat parts, Government policy, and the flow of migrants into Europe from elsewhere in the world are all thought to have played a role in the steep drop.
In April, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year agreement with French authorities to pay £662 million to support beach patrols as part of efforts to drive down arrivals.
Ms Mahmood is also seeking to overhaul the asylum system to deter crossings and deport people easier, including proposed changes to make refugee status temporary.
