More than 500 migrants arrive in UK after crossing English Channel – The Irish News

Latest figures show that more than 500 migrants arrived in the UK on Tuesday after crossing the Channel.

526 people made the journey in eight boats, bringing the provisional total for 2024 to 19,820.

This is 0.1% higher than at the same time in 2023 (19,801) and 21% lower than in 2022 (25,065).

Pictures show men, women and children wearing life jackets and blankets disembarking from a Border Force ship in Dover on Tuesday. One child was helped into a wheelchair on arrival at the port.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, these were the first arrivals in a week, since 206 people made the journey on August 19.

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

“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.”