Channel crossings hit new daily high for 2023 as 755 people arrive

More than 700 people have crossed the English Channel in a single day, in a new record for 2023. Home Office figures show that 755 people arrived on 14 dinghies on Thursday, including a group of migrants who were rescued after they fell into the water. The influx comes after a period of unseasonably rough and windy weather that has hampered crossings in recent weeks. Home Office figures show that almost 16,000 migrants have made the journey so far this year, compared to around 18,700 at the same point during a record-breaking 2022. The latest arrivals tipped the total number of small boat migrants to arrive in the UK since 2018 over 100,000. The milestone was hit during the government’s unofficially-declared ‘small boats week’, which it has used to make a series of announcements regarding efforts to combat crossings. Monday saw the first asylum seekers moved onto the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset, which had been hampered by delays and safety concerns. After being forced to reverse transfer notices for at least 20 migrants, which had been issued in violation of Home Office guidance, it issued ‘threatening’ letters telling selected people to move onto the barge or face having government housing withdrawn. The government has also announced a crackdown on immigration lawyers it claims are helping migrants ‘exploit’ the system, and a new partnership with Turkey to disrupt the supply of dinghies. The latest official statistics show that 92 per cent of small boat migrants arriving since 2018 have claimed asylum, but that only 16 per cent of their applications have been decided. Of those, two thirds were granted.