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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Diane Taylor

More people have crossed Channel in small boats this year than in all of 2023

A very overcrowded dinghy with people wrapped in coats clinging to the boat and to each other
People cross the Channel from France on a small boat. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

The number of people who have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year has exceeded the total number who arrived in the whole of 2023, according to figures published by the Home Office.

As of Friday, 29,578 people had made the crossing, compared with 29,437 last year. It is unlikely that the 2022 total of 45,755 people who arrived in small boats will be exceeded by the end of December 2024.

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