More than 18,000 small boat migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year

More than 18,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, marking the highest number of arrivals under the new Labour government.

According to official figures from the Home Office, 11 small boats reached British waters yesterday, carrying 703 migrants.

French authorities said two migrants died when their small boat got into trouble seven miles from the port of Calais.

French and British ships rushed to rescue more than 50 people from their sinking boat.

Migrant crisis: More than 18,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year

Two of the migrants were found unresponsive and were pronounced dead on the spot.

The latest border crossings bring the provisional total for the year so far to 18,342, the highest number of arrivals so far under Sir Keir’s Labour government.

That is 13 percent more than this time last year, when 16,170 people crossed into the UK. The highest number of arrivals in a single day so far this year was 882 on 18 June.

Of the 11 boats that reached British waters, one rowing boat nearly ended up on a beach in Kent as British maritime authorities rushed to intercept them

GB News captured exclusive footage of the small boat, which was packed with about 70 migrants on board.

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$\u200Migrants in Dover$

Migrants in Dover

The incident, near St Margaret’s Bay, near Dover, is the first time migrants have come close to a British beach in more than two years.

This has alarmed the authorities, who have invested a lot of money in stopping small boats from landing, after migrants had been stranded on the beach several times in the past.

The new Labour government is setting up a Border Security Command to focus more on people smuggling gangs, which make millions of pounds from their illegal trade.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which undermine border security and endanger lives.

“The new Government is taking steps to improve our border security by establishing a new Border Security Command that will bring together our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terrorism powers and hundreds of staff based in the UK and abroad to help defeat criminal smuggling gangs that are making millions in profits.”