Home Office: Record Number of Small Boat Crossings so Far This Year

The surge in crossings comes despite the government’s ongoing bid to ’stop the boats.’

Illegal immigrants crossing the in a small boat traveling from France off the coast of Dover, England on Aug. 29, 2023. Gareth Fuller/PA

A record number of migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats in the first three months of this year the Home Office has reported.

Some 4,644 migrants have travelled on 98 small boats to gain entry to the UK in 2024 so far. During the same period last year, the number was 3,793 migrants.

Home Office figures showed that this year represented an increase of 96 crossings compared with the first three months of 2022, when 4,548 migrants were detected by authorities.

Illegal immigration has been a sore point for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has pledged to stop people crossing the English Channel in small boats. The government’s plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda, including those who crossed the English Channel in small boats, has faced multiple legal hurdles over the safety of the scheme.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is currently in its final stages, awaiting further scrutiny before it can become law.

Responding to the record number of 514 crossings on March 20, a Home Office spokesperson said, “The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible.”

The government is working closely with the French police to tackle the “increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.”

Tough Measures

Last year, close to 30,000 migrants were recorded crossing. The 2023 figures were down 36 percent from 45,774 arrivals the year before.

“We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats,” the Home Office spokesperson added.

The government attributed the drop in 2023 to the “tough measures” introduced to tackle illegal migration on small boats, as well as to the cooperation with its French counterparts.

The Rwanda Safety Bill builds on the objectives set out in the Illegal Migration Act, passed by the government in July 2023.

The law gave the authorities powers to deport asylum seekers arriving via unauthorised routes either back to their home country or a safe third country.

There were 6,393 enforced returns in 2023, an increase of 66 percent from the previous year. Some 1,889 returns related to individuals who arrived via small boat, accounting for 7 percent of all enforced and voluntary returns during the year.

“This was almost five times higher than the number of small boat arrivals returned in 2022,” the Home Office said.

Political Debate

Shadow minister for Immigration Stephen Kinnock said the government has failed to stop the small boat crossings.

“More people have crossed in the first three months of 2024 than in that period in any other year. Labour will strengthen border security, smash the smuggling gangs, end hotel use and set up a new returns unit to faster remove people with no right to be here,” he said on social media platform X.

Last month, Labour suggested that the government is overspending on accommodation and support for illegal immigrants by £4.3 billion, paying £15 million a day on hotels.

The opposition attributed additional funding claims for the Treasury, which last year reached £4.3 billion, to the government’s failure to clear the backlog of asylum cases.

“This lays bare the complete chaos the Tories have created in the asylum system,” shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said.

The permanent secretary at the Home Office, Sir Matthew Rycroft, explained that the Treasury had to claim extra funding due to “record levels of small boat arrivals since the Spending Review 2021.”

Since 2015, Home Office has recorded over 550,000 people attempting to cross the English Channel and gain entry to the UK.