A total of 45,756 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in 2022, Government figures show. The last crossings of the year took place on Christmas Day, when 90 people made the journey from France in two boats.
The Ministry of Defence recorded no further crossings for the remaining six days of 2022 amid bad weather conditions. Home Office officials previously estimated up to 60,000 people could make the journey during the year.
Over the last 12 months, politicians have made a series of attempts to get a grip on the migrant crisis as pressure intensified amid a tumultuous change in leadership which saw three prime ministers and three home secretaries. Suella Braverman told of her “dream” of seeing the Government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda succeed after she was appointed Home Secretary – a policy which High Court judges ruled is lawful but has so far been stalled by legal action.
