Twelve migrants die trying to cross Channel to UK from France

On Monday alone, 351 migrants crossed in small boats, with 21,615 making the journey this year, according to UK government statistics.
The crossing often proves perilous, and in Nov 2021, 27 migrants died when their boat capsised in the deadliest single such disaster to date.
French authorities seek to stop migrants taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.
Starmer has cancelled a plan by Britain’s former Conservative government to send irregular migrants to a holding camp in Rwanda.
The British government is now planning “a major surge” in returns of irregular migrants to countries including Iraq, an official said Thursday, as it tries to clear an asylum backlog.