Threefold increase in lone child asylum seekers in UK, figures show

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought to Dover, Kent, on board the RNLI Dover Lifeboat. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

The number of unaccompanied children making dangerous journeys across the Channel to seek asylum in the last three years has increased threefold.

Kent county council (KCC) data shared with the Guardian has revealed that in the first five months of this year, 772 children crossed the Channel alone, compared with 242 children in the first five months of 2021.