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Mega dinghies transport 230 migrants in one go. 80,000 arrived under Labour.

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Daddima Tue 11-Aug-26 16:38:21

Looks like someone has been doing something, don’t you think?

Between 1 January and 8 August 2026, 14,819 people crossed the Channel in small boats.This total represents a 43% decrease compared to the exact same period in 2025.

Why Arrivals Are Decreasing- Drop in EU Crossings: Unauthorised border crossings into the wider European Union dropped 37% in the first half of 2026. Because most small boat migrants transit through Europe, fewer arrivals at EU borders naturally create a lag that reduces the volume attempting Channel crossings.
Origin Country Dynamics: Key changes in origin countries have significantly altered numbers. For example, a 67% decline in Syrian small boat arrivals has been linked to the stabilization and fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
UK-France Returns Scheme: The "one-in, one-out" returns pilot scheme with France lets the UK return small boat arrivals to France in exchange for regularized asylum seekers. This, alongside physically preventing beach departures, aims to disrupt smuggling business models.
Tactical Smuggler Shifts: Increased policing on French beaches has forced smugglers to launch from locations further away, such as Belgium, using significantly larger, overcrowded vessels to maximize capacity.

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Primrose53 Tue 11-Aug-26 16:22:45

Have been in supermarket this morning and all the newspapers are headlining these mega dinghy photos packed to capacity with approx 230 people. No longer can we call them small boats. Their capacity is now more than a Boeing 737 jet!

More than 3,000 migrants have arrived in 22 days and 80,000 have now arrived under Labour. That is the population of towns like Shrewsbury, Great Yarmouth or Chatham in Kent.

Burnham pledged to sort this out but we have bigger boats arriving and still throwing millions of £ at France who are doing nothing except laughing in his face. He honestly does need to do something and fast.

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