Functioning asylum system would deter migrant Channel crossings, says NCA boss
An asylum system that works “quickly and effectively” would deter migrant Channel crossings, the head of the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.Graeme Biggar discussed what could help to curb the dangerous journeys as the law enforcement agency repeated concerns of this being a “persistent and high-volume threat”.The number of people attempting the journey from France, alongside tactics from people smugglers which see migrants “wading out to boats or transferring from taxi boats”, has “increased the likelihood of fatalities”, the NCA’s threat assessment said.The International Organisation for Migration, which records Channel crossing deaths as part of its Missing Migrant Project, estimates 226 people including 35 children are missing or have died after attempting the crossing as of January this year.According to the French coastguard, there have been at least 19 deaths in 2024, including nine since the start of July. Last year, 12 migrants are thought to have died or were recorded as missing.
Transcript
00:00The National Crime Agency says that there's a persistent and high-volume threat of migrants
00:06making dangerous journeys to Britain's shores, and that one way to help curb this and act
00:12as a deterrent would be an asylum system that works quickly and effectively. These are the
00:19words of Graham Biggar, the boss of the NCA.
00:23So far the French Coast Guard has recorded 19 deaths this year, but figures from the
00:28Missing Migrant Project estimate that number could be much higher, reporting that 226 people,
00:35including 35 children, are missing or may have died after attempting the crossing as
00:42of January this year.
00:45The NCA have put the rise in deaths down to more people being put into smaller and flimsier
00:51boats. They have found that an average of around 60 people are now on board, when in
00:56previous years it was only around roughly 12 people per boat making the crossing.
01:04More than 18,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the
01:09Channel. This is up 11% on the same time last year.