Migrant crossings so far this year top 20,000

The number of people who have crossed the Channel in small boats this year now exceeds 20,000.

According to the Home Office, 614 people were landed in Dover on Wednesday, taking the annual total for 2024 to 20,433.

The figure is 3% higher than last year, but 18% lower than in 2022.

The government said the crossings “undermine border security and endanger lives”.

The Interior Ministry said the government is “taking measures to enhance border security”.

It was said the new Border Security Command “will bring together our intelligence and law enforcement agencies”.

It said the “hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and abroad” would be given “new counter-terrorism-style powers” ​​to “destroy the criminal smuggling gangs that are making millions in profits”.

The highest number of arrivals in a single day so far in 2024 was on June 18, when 882 people made the crossing.

Two days after Prime Minister Keir Starmer came to power in July’s general election, he confirmed that the previous government’s plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda had been withdrawn.