More than 150,000 small boat migrants have reached Britain since the start of the Channel crisis, it was confirmed today, after hundreds more arrivals on Boxing Day.
The latest Home Office figures showed 407 migrants were brought into Dover aboard Border Force vessels yesterday after being intercepted in the Channel.
It took the total to have arrived since Labour came to power to more than 22,000.
In all, 150,220 small boat migrants have reached the UK since the first dinghies crossed in 2018, equivalent to the population of a town the size of Blackpool.
Tomorrow also marks the sixth anniversary of the then Conservative home secretary Sajid Javid declaring a ‘major incident’ when, at that point, 281 migrants had reached Britain by small boat.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp today accused Labour of making a ‘terrible mistake’ by scrapping the previous government’s Rwanda asylum scheme.
The Conservative frontbencher insisted the project would have brought the Channel crisis to a halt, and also urged the French government to start turning back dinghies.
Mr Philp said: ‘It’s clear a new approach is needed.
The latest Home Office figures showed 407 migrants were brought into Dover aboard Border Force vessels yesterday after being intercepted in the Channel
It took the total to have arrived since Labour came to power to more than 22,000
In all, 150,220 small boat migrants have reached the UK since the first dinghies crossed in 2018, equivalent to the population of a town the size of Blackpool
‘The Rwanda deterrent – where anyone crossing would rapidly be removed to Rwanda – would have stopped this.
‘It was a terrible mistake for Labour to cancel Rwanda before it even started. That’s why crossing are up 20 per cent since Labour came in.
‘The Government must urgently restore a Rwanda-style removals deterrent.
‘The Belgians have almost completely stopped crossings from their beaches by intercepting boats at sea near the coast and returning them to shore. This has been done safely.
‘I call on France to use the same tactic to save lives at sea by ending this illegal migration route – which is also causing misery and rampant criminality around Calais and Dunkirk.’
He added: ‘Small boat crossings are totally unacceptable and must stop.
‘A country has to control its borders.
‘There is no need for these dangerous and illegal journeys – France is a safe country and no one is fleeing persecution in Calais.’
The first small boat arrivals recorded in official Home Office data took place on January 31, 2018, with further occasional arrivals that summer and autumn
The first small boat arrivals recorded in official Home Office data took place on January 31, 2018, with further occasional arrivals that summer and autumn.
But when five boats with a total of 45 people aboard arrived on Christmas Day 2018, followed by 38 migrants over the following three days, it prompted Mr Javid to announce that he had taken personal control of the situation.
He also requested an urgent call with his French counterpart to discuss the emerging crisis.
Small boat migrant numbers went on to peak at more than 45,700 in 2022. Just one day in September that year saw a record 1,305 arrivals.
The 407 latest arrivals during foggy conditions on Boxing Day brought the total since the start of this year to 35,898, the second-highest annual figure.
It includes 22,324 who have reached Britain since the general election.
Labour abandoned the Rwanda deal as one of its first acts in power, and said it would prevent crossings by investing in law enforcement measures to ‘smash the gangs’.
It is setting up a Border Security Command (BSC) which will bring together a range of government agencies including parts of Border Force, the National Crime Agency and the security services.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s new borders chief last month said he wanted to cut small boat crossings to ‘zero’.
BSC commander Martin Hewitt said he recognised there would be ‘scepticism’ about the Government’s plan to combat the Channel crisis.
But he insisted he will ‘hold the whole system to account’ in a renewed bid to stop all small boat migrants from reaching Britain.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
‘The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.
‘We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.’
