More than 120 migrants crossed the Channel in three small boats on Saturday, bringing total number of arrivals this year to 1,506

More than 120 migrants crossed the Channel in three small boats yesterday, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to 1,506. 

A total of 124 migrants made the dangerous crossing across the choppy waters, the Home Office has confirmed.

The total figure for arrivals this year is down from the 2,072 by the same point in 2023 but up from 1,339 in 2022.

The total for the number who were intercepted by the Border Force for this week is 171 while the highest number who crossed in a single day so far this year was 358 on January 17.

Apart from the crossings on Saturday and Thursday, small boats had not been intercepted since January 31.

Pictures taken at the Dover Docks, Kent today showed the Border Force vessel Typhoon arriving with around 50 migrants on board.

The Border Force vessel Typhoon carrying migrants arrives at the Dover Docks today. One picture showed a migrant wrapped in a foil blanket being pushed in a wheelchair

More than 120 migrants crossed the Channel in three small boats yesterday, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to 1,506

One picture showed a migrant wrapped in a foil blanket being pushed in a wheelchair. Another appeared to show two men supporting each other with their arms resting on each other’s shoulders.  

A total of 1,335 migrants successfully crossed the Channel in the first 31 days of 2024 despite almost constant storms and poor weather conditions.

This was a 13 per cent increase over the same period last year when there were 1,180, compared with 1,339 in 2022.

Back in 2018, only 299 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats for the entire year.

However, figures increased to 1,843 in 2019 and 8,466 in 2020. In 2021, there was a massive increase to 28,526 before 2022’s record of 45,744.

This figure reduced in 2023 to 29,437 – still the second highest year on record.

Since January 2018,more than 115,000 people have successfully crossed the Channel – an average of 52 people per day.

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick told the Telegraph yesterday that France should install ‘buoy blockades’ like those deployed by the US along its border with Mexico in the Channel to prevent migrant boat crossings.

The former immigration minister urged Paris to step up its use of the tethered inflatable barriers ahead of a visit to Texas to see them in action along the Rio Grande.

A group of people thought to be migrants board a coach from Dover in Kent on Thursday after being rescued by a Border Force vessel 

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick urged Paris to step up its use of the tethered inflatable barriers ahead of a visit to Texas to see them in action along the Mexican border

Mr Jenrick wants the floating chains set up in the sea. They roll so they are hard to climb and also have nets below them under the water

He said that before he resigned last year he worked with France to install buoys in canal and river mouths used by smugglers to launch boats in calmer waters.

But he wants the floating chains set up in the sea. They roll so they are hard to climb and also have nets below them under the water.

‘The Western world faces a migration crisis. It’s vital the UK adopts the latest technology and the most effective tactics from other countries that are facing similar challenges,’ Mr Jenrick said.

Rishi Sunak has made ‘stopping the boats’ a key pledge of his leadership as the country approaches a general election expected later this year.

The Prime Minister’s Safety of Rwanda Bill passed the Commons after the Prime Minister saw off a Tory rebellion which had sought to toughen the legislation.

It cleared its first major hurdle in the House of Lords last month, but faces numerous amendments in the upper chamber and an extended tussle between the Commons and Lords.

Mr Sunak has urged peers not to block ‘the will of the people’ by opposing the Bill.

The Lords begin detailed examination of the Bill in committee stage on Monday.

The asylum scheme comes with a £290 million bill but a series of legal challenges has meant no flights have taken off since it was proposed in 2022.

Under the plan, people who cross the Channel in small boats could be removed to Rwanda rather than being allowed to seek asylum in the UK.