Illegal immigration is a major issue in the campaign that officially began on Wednesday, when Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the date of the election. The poll was called for July 4, earlier than expected. When he became UK prime minister in October 2022, Sunak promised to stop the arrival of illegal immigrants and made it one of his priorities. On Friday, five new boats arrived in southern England with 288 migrants on board, according to figures released today by the Home Office. With these new arrivals, 10,170 people have now crossed the Channel from France to the UK so far this year – 35% more than in the whole of 2022. Many of the migrants are from Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. The UK government had hoped to deter migrants from coming to the UK with its policy of sending thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda. On Thursday, Rishi Sunak admitted that this highly controversial scheme was unlikely to be operational before the election, but said he wanted to see the first flights taking off after the poll if he wins. The Labour party, which has a poll lead of more than 20 points over the Conservatives (in power since 2010), has promised to scrap the Rwanda policy, calling it an expensive and ineffective “gimmick”. “The government has lost control of our borders,” said Keir Starmer, the opposition leader who would become prime minister if Labour wins the election. Labour also believes that immigration is too high and has promised to use counter-terrorism powers to crack down on people-smuggling gangs. Read Also: Europeias. Quase todos os partidos insatisfeitos com Pacto para Migrações (Portuguese version)