On 9 November, 572 migrants were rescued from nine overcrowded boats in the English Channel and 209 people were intercepted on four different boats and brought to England the following day. So far in 2024, 32,900 people have crossed the sea from France to reach the UK.
On 7 November, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed new agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo to tackle people-smuggling gangs, as part of efforts to reduce the number of small boat crossings. The agreements included the sharing of intelligence and an increase in cooperation.
On 4 November the UK offered to resettle asylum seekers detained on the island of Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory. 56 people have been there since 2021, when their boat sank on its way to Canada to seek asylum. This option replaces an earlier plan to send the asylum seekers to a Romanian transit center for six months before taking them to the UK.
On 4 November, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to double funding for UK border security and designate people-smuggling gangs as terrorist networks in an effort to reduce the number of Channel crossings.
On 30 October, the UK government began moving hundreds of asylum seekers from the barge Bibby Stockholm, with around 300 of the 400 men already moved to sites around the country. This barge was a measure taken by the previous government to reduce the cost of asylum accommodation by housing asylum seekers on barges.
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