UK intercepts largest number of migrants in one day

The United Kingdom intercepted 872 people on Saturday as they tried to illegally cross the narrow sea between the country and France.

It was the largest number of migrants encountered in the English Channel in a single day so far this year, and came as the British government was accused of failing to get to grips with the so-called migrant crisis.

The migrants, largely from Africa and the Middle East, were on 15 small boats operated by people smugglers and were taken to the UK for processing to see if they qualify for asylum.

The influx, which came amid mild weather and calm seas, took the total for the year to 21,000 and followed a busy August, during which 5,300 migrants arrived — the most this year in a single month.

Last year, the total number of small-boat migrant arrivals totaled 45,774.

The UK said such crossings must stop as they are dangerous and because people claiming asylum should do so in the first safe country they reach, not in one far from homes. It said it cannot afford to accept everyone who wants to live here.

But groups working with migrants said London should do more to help people in difficulty.

The UK's Home Office said in a statement: "The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system."

The government department said the UK's priority "is to stop the boats "with the Small Boats Operational Command working closely with France to target people smugglers.

"The government is going even further through our Illegal Migration Act, which will mean that people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country," the Home Office added.

The UK has also announced the hiring of hundreds of additional case workers to process asylum claims.

The UK's main opposition Labour Party said the large number of migrants arriving in the country shows "criminal smuggler gangs "have control of Britain's borders.

Yvette Cooper, the Labour Party lawmaker who serves as shadow home secretary, said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "badly broken his promise on small boats".

"The prime minister should drop his headline-chasing gimmicks and instead back Labour's plan to stop dangerous Channel crossings by cracking down on criminal gangs, securing a returns deal with Europe, and clearing the asylum backlog, which is costing the taxpayer 6 million pounds ($7.6 million) a day," she told The Times newspaper.