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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Diane Taylor

More than 18,000 refugees have crossed Channel in small boats this year – MoD

People being brought in to Ramsgate, Kent, onboard Border Force vessels after a number of small boat incidents in the Channel.
People being brought in to Ramsgate, Kent, onboard Border Force vessels after a number of small boat incidents in the Channel. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

The number of refugees crossing the Channel this year has passed 18,000 after 337 crossed in small boats on Saturday, according to Ministry of Defence figures.

The new data comes after a newspaper report claimed that many of those who had crossed the Channel in the past six weeks were economic migrants from Albania, not refugees.

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