Migrant crisis: Nearly 600 people cross the English Channel in a new daily record | United Kingdom | News

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Nearly 600 people made the trip on Thursday, a new one-day record. More than 11,000 migrants have made the perilous journey through the Strait of Dover in small boats this year alone, according to the Palestinian Authority.

According to Home Office figures, they intercepted or rescued at least 592 people trying to reach 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 into the UK.

Thursday saw a group of 40 migrants rescued by French and Belgian authorities with the help of two fishing boats when their ship began to sink.

Read more: France launches investigation after migrant death from shipwreck in the Channel

The remaining passengers were taken to the port of Dunkirk, with rescue operations continuing.

The tragic events of Thursday did not stop people from making the trip on Friday. The Interior Ministry reported that 25 people crossed the canal on one boat.

Tim Nauer Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, told The Guardian: “The government’s relentless desire to raise the drawbridge without creating more roads to safety leaves desperate refugees with few options but to put their lives in the hands of people smugglers.

The harsh and impractical bill against refugees is purely political theater that makes no attempt to improve our asylum system or address the root causes of crossing the canal.

“Ministers should abandon this extreme law and instead design an efficient and fair asylum system that creates more pathways to safety, such as family reunification, and a long-term resettlement program that welcomes 10,000 refugees annually.”

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