Total of migrants arriving in UK this year tops 21,000 after 408 crossed Channel in nine boats yesterday – with more than 131 a day since Keir Starmer became PM
- Home Office figures show 21,063 migrants have crossed the English Channel
- Since Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, 7,477 have made the crossing
More than 21,000 migrants have arrived on small boats across the English Channel since January, the Home Office has confirmed.
Yesterday, 408 people arrived on nine boats, bringing the 2024 total to 21,063 – some 1,758 people over the past seven days.
Since Sir Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, 7,477 people have made the crossing – an average of 131 people per day.
Under Rishi Sunak, 50,645 people arrived on small boats, averaging almost 82 people per day.
Liz Truss, whose premiership covered the autumn of 2022, saw an average of 210 people arriving each day.
In total 135,385 people – the equivalent of a town the size of Watford – have crossed the Channel since 2018.
Some 408 migrants crossed the English Channel on severely overcrowded boats such as this one yesterday, the Home Office has revealed
They were taken to Dover where they will be processed by UK Border Force
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.
‘The new Government is taking steps to boost our border security, setting up a new Border Security Command which will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas, to smash the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit.’
Since January 1, more than 21,000 people have successfully crossed the English Channel on small boats