More than 4,500 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats this year despite Rishi Sunak’s promise to crack down on the problem. The latest Home Office figures show 77 people in two boats risked the voyage on Thursday.
They followed 492 people on Wednesday, the year’s highest daily total and a figure which was revised up after it was first published. It brings the total number of people detected making crossing in small boats this year to 4,563 according to the provisional figures.
The total number of crossings last year was 45,755. The Prime Minister has promised to “stop the boats” as one of his five main priorities.
The Government’s Illegal Migration Bill, currently going through Parliament, is aimed at changing the law to make it clear that people arriving in the UK illegally will not be able to remain in the country. Instead, they will either be sent back to their home country or to a nation like Rwanda with which the UK has a deal, although so far legal challenges have meant no flights carrying migrants have taken off for Kigali.
