In the United Kingdom, there are protests against migrant evictions and pre-deportation detentions

Dozens of people surrounded a bus believed to be transporting asylum seekers from a hotel in the Peckham area of ​​the British capital to an accommodation barge moored off the coast of southern England. Several other protests have been held or planned across the country to prevent immigration officials from detaining migrants.

The UK Home Office confirmed this week that it had begun detaining asylum seekers ahead of planned deportations to Rwanda, before parliament passed legislation to designate Rwanda as a safe country. Photos and videos released by the ministry showed several handcuffed migrants being led away by immigration officials.

The ministry has not yet confirmed how many people have been detained, but the government said Rwanda will receive 5,700 migrants this year.

The protests erupted on Thursday after official figures showed that 711 people had been brought ashore the previous day after crossing the English Channel in small boats from northern France. It is the highest number in one day this year, although London insists its plan to “stop the ships” is working, particularly over the controversial Rwandan deportation scheme.

This number is a new record, surpassing the previous one, which was set on April 14 this year. 534 migrants arrived. A total of 8,278 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, more than a quarter more than the number in the same period last year. The largest number of persons who arrived in one day – 1,295 – was registered in 2022. on August 22.

French police said on Wednesday they had rescued 66 people after their boat ran into trouble off the coastal town of Dieppe. British police have made several arrests as they investigate the deaths of five people on April 23 when their boat ran into trouble off the coast of France.

Migration is a hot political issue in the United Kingdom, especially since the government has promised to better protect the country’s borders after leaving the European Union. However, it turned out that this is much more difficult to implement than expected.