Channel crossings reach highest daily total in 2023 so far

More than 600 people crossed the English Channel in small boats in the highest number on a single day so far this year, new figures show.

Some 616 people were detected on Sunday, according to Home Office figures released on Monday, passing this year’s previous high of 497 on Saturday April 22.

It means the number of crossings in 2023 now stands at a provisional total of 8,313, compared with around 10,000 at the same point last year.

The number who made the crossing in 2022 reached a record 45,755, prompting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to make tackling small boat crossings a priority for his Government this year.

Twelve boats were detected crossing the Channel on Sunday, which suggests an average of around 51 people per boat.

A Downing Street spokesman said the numbers “fluctuate on any given day”, adding that when Mr Sunak referred recently to crossings having fallen 20%, he was talking about “a five-month average reduction” rather than a snapshot figure.

“We do know that number of crossings fluctuates; equally we know that, on average, the enhanced work with our French counterparts means that you are now more likely to be intercepted and stopped if you attempt to make a crossing than succeed in crossing the Channel,” the spokesman continued.

“There is a great deal of work going on which is stopping these criminal gangs in their tracks.

“But, clearly, crossings are continuing and that is because we have not been able to put in place our full plans; and obviously there is a great deal of work across Government to that end.”

The figures come on the day a report by a cross-party group of MPs suggested Albanian migrants to the UK are unlikely to be at risk in their own country or require asylum.

However, more needs to be done to support the Albanian victims of people-smuggling, especially women, the Home Affairs Select Committee said.

The committee added there is no clear basis for the UK to accept thousands of asylum applications from Albanian citizens.

Migration data previously revealed that more than a quarter of the 45,755 people who crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2022 were Albanian, most of whom made an asylum claim.

The number has dropped sharply in the first few months of 2023, however.

Downing Street welcomed a policy change by TikTok that has reportedly contributed to the drop.

The video platform has started blocking posts advertising small boat crossings.

Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “I think we have rightly been clear to social media companies that they do have a responsibility to take down posts and we welcome action from them to counter some of the posts which have been reported.

“Obviously, this is part of the cumulative work that we are taking which is helping to have an impact.”

Stephen Kinnock MP, Labour’s shadow immigration minister, said: “With the weather improving and the number of crossings increasing, Rishi Sunak needs to roll up his sleeves and start doing the hard graft, rather than ploughing on with the headline-chasing, government-by-gimmick approach which landed him in this mess in the first place.

“In short, he needs to stop the boast and start stopping the boats.

“Labour has a comprehensive five-point plan to defeat the criminal smuggler gangs, end the dangerous crossings, clear the growing asylum backlog and fix an asylum system broken by the Conservatives.”