Channel migrants hit their highest ever daily total with more than 1,250 passing yesterday – bringing the overall figure for this year above 22,000.
After days of no traffic, a total of 1,295 people were spotted crossing the English Channel in small boats on Monday.
This surpasses the old daily record total of 1,185 – set last November. The most recorded border crossings in a single day this year was 696 set on August 1.
Another 40 migrants were picked up this morning and escorted to Dover, and more are expected due to calm sea conditions.
Among them are some families with children. A soldier in camouflage can be seen holding a sleeping toddler in his arms.
Yesterday, around 27 boats were intercepted by Border Force and the Royal Navy, indicating an average of 48 people per boat.
As reported by The Telegraph, August is set to become the record month of the year with around 6,000 migrants crossing the Channel, the highest ever total in a single month of 6,878 in November 2021.
The cumulative total number of crossings this year is 22,670, the last number of last year was 28,526.
The UK is close to double the number of migrants crossing the Channel compared to this time last year, at the end of August 2021 there were 12,500 fewer people crossing the border.
Channel number of migrants hits all-time high daily with 1,295 pass yesterday
The cumulative number of crossings this year is a provisional total of 22,670, last year’s final figure was 28,526
This morning some families with children went to Dover after crossing the Channel
About 40 migrants were escorted to Dover this morning, after a record-breaking day yesterday
A group of people believed to be migrants are brought to Dover, Kent, on a Border Force ship on Monday
A group of migrants were brought ashore in Dungeness yesterday morning to be processed after crossing the Channel
A woman brings a child to Dover on Monday morning after 21,000 migrants arrived in the UK this year in small boats
The first group, consisting of several young children, was escorted into Dover by the RNLI shortly after midnight.
It includes a woman with a small child tied up in front of her in a sling as she guides a toddler down the steps of a boat. Following her was another woman holding a child in shark clothes.
Then, the Border Force Ranger ship brought more migrants into the port before 10am yesterday. The mostly male group looked cool, with blue blankets wrapped around their shoulders as they disembarked.
It comes as five African countries are said to be in ‘advanced negotiations’ with the UK over a Rwanda-style deal.
Morocco, Nigeria, Namibia, Niger and Ghana are all in discussions with their governments about accepting migrants who have been refused asylum from Britain, The Times reports.
Migrants including children arrived in Dover in the dark in the early hours of this morning after small boat crossings reached 21,000 people. Pictured: Members of the RNLI escort migrants back to Dover Docks after they were rescued in the English Channel early this morning
The total number of Channel migrants arriving in UK waters by inflatable dinghy or other small craft since 1 January has now surpassed 22,000.
According to official government figures, a total of 28,526 people crossed the English Channel in 2021 – compared with 8,410 arriving in 2020.
Last week, more than 600 hundred people arrived in just one day on Wednesday according to official figures released by the Defense Department.
There are also predictions that visitor numbers to the UK could increase further as the National Strategy for Maritime Security says up to 250,000 migrants will reach the UK via the Channel by 2027.
Last week, Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak both said the military would have a role in controlling the Channel if they became Prime Minister.
The Royal Navy patrols the English Channel looking for small boats for asylum seekers, but its command and control mission is expected to end in January 2023.
The head, Ms Truss, told reporters in Scotland: ‘The absolute priority is to make sure we tackle the small boat problem and the appalling trafficking of human traffickers.
‘And I will use every tool at my disposal if I am chosen as prime minister to make that happen.’
Asked if the Royal Navy would continue to play any role, she said: ‘Absolutely right.’
The news comes as the FOI revealed that more than 50 migrants over the age of 30 have registered as children in the past decade after lying about their age and officials fear the migrants have no criminal record. who will be charged with a serious crime to repay the debt they owe to the traffickers.
The migrants crossing the canal are now thought to be predominantly Albanian, with 5,000 having crossed so far this year.
Albanian drug lords are sending so-called ‘cleaners’ with no criminal record to Britain to be drawn into organized crime gangs, Mail+ reports.
The Channel’s arrival checks failed to find a link between some of the arrivals and traffickers in the Balkans, sources said.
Lucy Moreton, a career officer with the ISU Union Border Force, said that officers were facing ‘increasing amounts of violence’ from ‘a lot of young men’.
She said two of her employees were attacked in the past week and three more were bitten.
A child is helped by RNLI staff as they are unloaded on the Dungeness boat, Kent
A young girl held by men from the RNLI in Dungeness, Kent
Meanwhile, the State Department has taken on the task of developing a list of countries interested in agreeing to a Rwanda-style deal.
The initial list of 20 countries was quickly cut down as ambassadors warned that seeking such deals would damage relationships.
Albania, North Macedonia and Moldova were on the original list, but were removed after negative media coverage.
Tony Smith, the former director general of the Border Force, called the current migration figures worrisome, adding that it could lead to a re-evaluation of previous estimates that 65,000 border crossings will be done this year.
He said: ‘I still don’t see any end in sight. There’s nothing really that we can point to and say: ‘We’ll be able to stop this’. It is quite frustrating. ‘
A Government spokesman said: ‘The increase in dangerous crossings is unacceptable.
‘They are not only a public abuse of our immigration laws but are life-threatening and hinder our ability to help refugees reach the UK via safe routes. and legal.
‘The Nationality and Borders Act will allow us to crack down on abuses of the system and evil smugglers, who now face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
‘Under our new Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda, we are continuing to prepare to resettle people who are making dangerous, unnecessary and illegal trips into the country. Great Britain to have their claims reviewed and rebuild their lives.’
