The United Kingdom provides an additional 75 million pounds to combat people-smuggling networks. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced this following the general meeting of the international police organisation Interpol in Glasgow, Scotland.
The money will go to the newly created Border Security Command under Starmer, which will see its operating resources double to £150m over two years. The money is intended for high-tech surveillance equipment and recruiting 100 specialist investigators to combat people smugglers.
Many migrants attempt to enter the UK illegally via the Channel in small boats. More than 5,000 people arrived in the country this way in October alone, the highest number in a single month this year, and 433 crossings were recorded in the first two days of November.
According to British government statistics, 31,904 people crossed perilously in 2024. This is an increase of 16.5 percent compared to the same period in 2023, but the number is still more than a fifth below the level of 2022.
At least 60 people have died this year while trying to cross the Channel, making it the deadliest year in the statistics, which have been kept since 2018.