07.10.2024
Record Number of Migrants Cross the English Channel In a Single Day
A record 973 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel in a single day this year, according to official figures. The record surge in Channel migrants crossed on Saturday, in 17 small boats. It takes the total number of migrants reaching UK waters so far this year to 27,612 in more than 500 dinghies. Saturday's record day of arrivals came on the same day that another four migrants, including a young child, died while trying to cross the Channel. At least 194 migrants died attempting to cross the English Channel between 2018 and September 2024, according to estimates from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is part of the UN. Many of these deaths occurred in the Channel during a crossing, including 80 people known to have drowned. So far in 2024, 47 people have lost their lives, the IOM says, the highest figure for any year since 2019, when there were 50 deaths. In November 2021, at least 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank, the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident. About 83% of small boat arrivals in the 12 months to June 2024 were male and - where age was recorded - more than 40% were between 25 and 39 years old. Many have left their homes to flee war and persecution or are escaping famine and poverty. Most people have endured intense hardship to make it this far. For example, those who travel through Libya risk abuse, sexual violence and exploitation along their journeys. If people manage to reach the shores of the UK, they are already extremely vulnerable.
Credit: BBC
Credit: BBC
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
