More than 25,000 small boat migrants arrive in UK this year | Politics | News
More than 25,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, with 898 arriving on Wednesday, Home Office figures show.
This is the earliest point in the year that the figure has been reached.
The total for the whole of last year was 37,000, which is 25% more than the year before but fewer than in 2022.Ā
At least nine people have died while attemptingĀ theĀ journey this year, from reports by French and UK authorities, but there is no official record of fatalities inĀ theĀ Channel.
Ministers want to endĀ theĀ crossings because they āthreaten lives and undermine our border securityā.
Data onĀ theĀ crossings of migrants in āsmall boatsā like inflatable dinghies has been collected since 2018.
InĀ theĀ first year of data, just 299 people were recorded to have arrived inĀ theĀ UK this way.
Since 2018, 94% of migrants who arrived by small boat crossing have claimed asylum inĀ theĀ UK, or 145,834 out of 154,354 people.
Since Labour came to power last July,Ā theĀ party has vowed to āsmashĀ theĀ gangsā.
Ministers have sought to ramp up enforcement action against smugglers, including by setting up a Border Security Command to leadĀ theĀ strategy and intelligence sharing to tackle crossings, across national agencies and internationally.
New legislation is also expected to hand counter terror-style powers to police and introduce new criminal offences to crack down on people-smugglingĀ gangs, if approved by Parliament.
TheĀ Government is seeking to resetĀ theĀ relationship with Europe to co-operate overĀ theĀ crossings run by people smugglingĀ gangs.
In February this year, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper agreed to re-purpose Ā£7 million of cash to French counterparts to bolster enforcement action onĀ theĀ nationās coastline to tackle Channel crossings.
This action included funding of a unit of elite officers in France to increase patrols, launching a new intelligence unit in Dunkirk to āhuntā people smugglers and training more drone pilots to intercept crossings before they reachĀ theĀ sea.
TheĀ French have also agreed to change its rules to allow police to intervene when boats are in shallow water, rather than requiring them still to be on land.
