Borders in chaos: over 1,200 migrants in one day in the English Channel!

Borders in chaos: over 1,200 migrants in one day in the English Channel!

In an alarming trend, British Defense Minister John Healey reports on a massive increase in illegal crossings in the English Channel. On June 2, 2025, Healey stated that 14,812 people have already crossed the channel this year, which corresponds to an increase of 42 percent compared to the previous year. These alarming numbers are a worrying picture, since almost 37,000 people reached the United Kingdom in 2024. In the record year 2022, 45,755 crossings were recorded, and the top number of 1,305 arrivals was reached on September 3, 2022. Healey emphasizes that Great Britain has lost control of its limits.

new law on border security

In order to address the problems at the borders, a new draft law about border security, asylum and immigration was brought into parliament by the Labor government. The aim of this legislation is to combat human smuggling and prevent dangerous crossings across the English Channel. Among other things, the new provisions provide for law enforcement authorities to receive extended powers in order to confiscate electronic devices from suspects and to pursue smugglers. It is feared that some of the measures could criminalize asylum seekers, which will result in intensive public debates on border security and human rights, as reported by [UK-ETA] (https://uk-eta.de/grossbritanniens-neuer----- border guards.

One of the controversial aspects of the draft law is to create new criminal offenses for dealing with equipment for illegal crossings that can be punished with penalties of up to 14 years in prison. Interior Minister Yvette Cooper emphasizes the importance of considering smugglers as severe organized criminals.

human rights and political rhetoric

Human rights groups say that desperate people could be punished and warn that the measures could increase the number of deaths in the channel. Critics therefore require an expansion of safe and legal ways for asylum seekers, while new punishments for migrants who refuse rescue attempts in the English Channel, provide up to five years in prison. These developments are done in parallel to another draft law, which could largely abolish asylum law in the United Kingdom. As stated by Tagesschau, the Interior Minister Suella Braverman plans to hold on to "illegal migrants" without judicial review-a step that against the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Refugee Convention could violate.

Additional challenges arise from the overloaded asylum processing, in which 160,000 people are currently waiting for their notices. Migration experts also argue that refugees could contribute to the remediation of the shortage of labor in Great Britain. In the midst of these debates, the topic of asylum is increasingly used as an election campaign topic, so that aggressive rhetoric towards refugees affects public perception.