Over 18,000 channel migrants have been illegally smuggled into Britain in small boats this year as numbers spike with calm weather.
Britain’s ongoing channel migrant crisis is showing no sign of slowing down, with over 18,000 illegals now being reported as being smuggled into the UK in small boats this year.
It comes after the channel saw one of its busiest weeks late last month, with the number of people traversing the stretch of sea between England and France surging during a period of calm weather.
According to a report by The Times, this appears to have further boosted the number of illegals landing in Britain, with the number rising on Saturday to a total of 18,108 individuals.
What’s more, a further 176 individuals are reported to have made the journey on Sunday according to official data published by the Ministry of Defence on Monday, with a total of five boats being successfully launched and directed towards the English coast. The figures for Monday’s crossings had not been published at the time of publication.
So far though, April still reportedly holds the record for the busiest week for migrant crossings, with over 2,000 people making the journey within one seven-day period that month.
The Times is meanwhile reporting that the heavy amount of traffic so far seen late last month and this month is likely set to continue, with it even being suspected that people smugglers profiting from the illegally trafficking of economic migrants have dropped their prices significantly.
According to the publication, despite having initially cost as much as £5,000 (~$6,000) to get a place on one of the small boats according to figures from French officials, prices have now reportedly dropped to as little as £500 to £1,000 (~$600 to ~$,1200).
Many of those benefiting from the price drop meanwhile appear to be Albanian, with a leaked government document revealing that nearly four in ten migrants making the journey now reportedly originate from Europe’s only Muslim majority nation.
This is despite the fact that — while poor — the country is a safe nation in Europe.
Many of these economic migrants are said to be taking the dangerous route into Britain in order to claim that they have been trafficked, a moniker that — according to a report The Telegraph — can be used to make it much more difficult for the British state to deport them.
“Illegal migrants who have travelled to the UK from safe countries have sought modern slavery referrals, which have prevented and delayed their removal or deportation,” the publication reports one unnamed Whitehall source as saying in regards to the practice.
“It is imperative that this system is fixed quickly, and for good,” the source continued. “Unless we make drastic reforms, the true victims of modern slavery will continue suffer, with excessive decision-making periods and a system that rewards those who seek only to exploit it.”
As of 2020, Albanians constituted the single biggest foreign nationality in UK prisons, with Albanian nationals reportedly being seen as prevalent within UK organised crime.
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