Migrant crisis: Nearly 600 people cross English Channel in new daily record | UK | News
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Nearly 600 people made the journey on Thursday, a new record for a single day. More than 11,000 migrants have made the perilous journey across the Dover Strait on small boats just this year, according to PA.
According to the Home Office figures, they intercepted or rescued at least 592 people attempting to arrive at Kent beaches on Thursday.
French authorities intercepted at least 155 people on the same day.
This broke the previous record set last week, on August 4, when 482 people crossed over to the UK.
Thursday saw a group of 40 migrants rescued by French and Belgian authorities with the help of two fishing boats when their vessel began to sink.
READ MORE: France launches probe after migrant death from sinking ship in Channel
The remaining passengers were transported to Dunkirk port, with more rescue operations underway.
The tragic events that took place on Thursday did not deter people from making the trip on Friday. The Home Office reported 25 people crossed the Channel on a single boat.
Tim Naor Hilton, the chief executive of Refugee Action, told the Guardian: “The Government’s relentless desire to raise the drawbridge without creating more routes to safety leaves desperate refugees with little choice than to put their lives in the hands of people smugglers.
“And the cruel and unworkable anti-refugee bill is pure political theatre that makes no attempt to improve our asylum system or address the root causes of Channel crossings.
“Ministers must throw out this extreme bill and instead design an effective and just asylum system that creates more routes to safety, such as family reunion, and a long-term resettlement programme that welcomes 10,000 refugees a year.”
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