Small boat arrivals pass 6,000 since Labour came to power as more than 500 migrants cross Channel in a single day

Since Labour came to power, more than 6,000 small boats have come to the Channel.

Figures published yesterday by the Home Office showed that 526 migrants reached the UK from northern France on Tuesday.

It is also believed that 613 people crossed the Channel yesterday, taking the total since the general election to a reported 6,858 – and 20,433 in total since the start of the year.

The number of participants this year is already higher than last year, when 19,801 people arrived at the same time.

But that is less than the 25,065 that were there at the same time in 2022.

Migrants wave at a smugglers’ boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach at Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024

One of Labour’s first acts in power was to scrap the Tories’ Rwanda plan, which was intended to save lives by stopping migrants from crossing the Channel.

Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to tackle the crisis involves setting up a Border Security Command, bringing together existing immigration units and giving them “counter-terrorism”-style powers, and seeking readmission agreements with other countries.

According to GB News, the migrants who arrived on Tuesday were the first to reach the UK in a week, with more than 600 migrants crossing the Channel yesterday.

The group, which also included children, were intercepted in the Channel by the Border Patrol ships Defender and Volunteer and taken to the port of Dover.

Last week it was reported that the number of migrants granted indefinite leave to remain in Britain had quadrupled, but efforts to increase the number of deportations have stalled.

Home Office data shows that more than 25,300 Channel migrants were granted asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection in the year to June.

In the previous 12 months, there were approximately 6,600.

Sir Keir Starmer’s (pictured on August 28) plan to tackle the crisis includes setting up a Border Security Command, which will bring together existing immigration units and give them ‘counter-terrorism’ style powers, and will seek to negotiate readmission agreements with other countries.

Migrants are taken to the port of Dover after being picked up by border guards in the English Channel on May 8, 2024

An inflatable rowing boat carrying migrants sails through the Channel towards the United Kingdom on August 6, 2024

Across all types of asylum applications, the number of granted applications reached a record high of 76,176 last year – more than three times the previous year. The increases were driven by a backlog exercise launched by Rishi Sunak, which aimed to eliminate ‘old’ asylum claims by the end of 2023.

But the data showed that just 3 percent of migrants who have arrived since the Channel crisis began have been deported. Just 3,788 of the 127,834 who have crossed the border since 2018 have been sent home.

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 spokesman added that the government was “taking steps to improve our border security. We are creating a new Border Security Command, bringing together our intelligence and law enforcement agencies. We are getting new counter-terrorism powers and hundreds of staff in the UK and abroad to help tackle the criminal smuggling gangs that are making millions in profits.”

:
Small boat arrivals pass 6,000 since Labour came to power as more than 500 migrants cross Channel in a single day