More than 150,000 migrants have crossed Channel to UK in last seven years
27 December 2024, 14:16
More than 150,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since 2018.
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Some 407 migrants were detected crossing the Channel on Boxing Day, according to provisional Home Office data.
It came after more than 450 people crossed the Channel in 11 boats on Christmas Day.
It means 150,243 arrivals have been recorded since the start of 2018 - when current records began.
A Home Office source said: "The Tories left an appalling legacy of broken border security.
"We are fixing the foundations with a new Border Security Command, 100 new specialist investigators and new agreements with Europe and beyond to break up the business models of the evil criminal gangs making millions from small boat crossings.
"We are increasing removals of those with no right to be here and are clamping down on illegal working."
Read more: More than 450 migrants crossed Channel in small boats on Christmas Day, Home Office figures show
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The 50,000 mark was passed in June 2022, while 100,000 was passed in August 2023.
The annual number of arrivals stood at just 299 in 2018, before climbing to 1,843 in 2019, 8,466 in 2020, 28,526 in 2021 and a record 45,774 in 2022. It then fell to 29,437 in 2023.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper previously said the government had a moral responsibility to tackle Channel crossings, but refused to set a deadline on when a target to see the numbers fall "sharply" would be met.
She said the UK must "go after" the gangs behind the dangerous crossings.
She also told MPs she was "determined to keep making progress" on reducing the number of hotels being used to house asylum seekers, saying they were "completely inappropriate and extremely costly".
PM Keir Starmer has put international co-operation with law enforcement agencies in Europe at the heart of his bid to cut the number of arrivals.
More than 22,324 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since he walked into No10.
