MORE than 1,100 illegal migrants have arrived in the UK on small boats over two days – vastly outnumbering the three asylum seekers sent to France under the government’s ‘one in, one out’ deal.
Home Office figures showed 1,072 migrants in 13 boats made the dangerous journey across the English Channel on Friday, averaging 82 per vessel.
Only 85 arrived in a single boat on Saturday, although they set out in particularly perilous conditions with high winds and choppy seas.
Friday’s arrivals was the third time this year that more than 1,000 people have crossed from northern France in flimsy boats in one day.
The total now stands at 32,188 – edging closer to the 36,816 who came to these shores in the whole of 2024.
More than 55,000 have arrived since Labour took power in July last year, despite Kier Starmer promising to smash the gangs behind the lucrative trade.
The Prime Minister also ended Tory plans to deter the hordes of people massing over the Channel by deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
With public anger mounting, the flagship ‘one in, one out’ deal was brokered with France – but last-minute legal challenges have caused embarrassment for the government.
Migrants on the beach at Gravelines, northern France. More than 1,100 made it to the UK in small boats on Friday and Saturday
The latest individual removed under the scheme is an Iranian man who was sent back to France on Friday.
He followed an Eritrean man returned earlier in the day after he lost a High Court bid to remain in the UK and the deportation of an Indian national on Thursday.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has claimed the scheme provides an ‘immediate deterrent’ to people planning to come to the UK in small boats.
But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has described it as ‘pathetic’, adding ‘boasting about it is absurd’.
Under the system, anyone arriving in the UK by small boat can be sent back across the Channel. France then sends an equivalent number of asylum seekers who have applied by legal means.
In a social media post following the mass arrivals on Saturday, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted on social media: ‘Three illegal migrants have now been returned to France but over 1,000 arrived today alone. The invasion is getting even bigger.’
The near 1,100 arrivals on Friday could end up costing British taxpayers £43million for just one year because of needs for housing, food, healthcare, legal aid, education and other benefits.
The payments can also include grants from local councils, which are provided with £1,200 per asylum seeker to cover incidental expenditure.
A Border Force vessel arrives at the marina in Dover with a load of migrants wearing life jackets on Friday
Happy migrants posed for photos in Graveline as they waited to board a smuggler’s boat on Friday
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘one in, one out’ deal with France was dismissed as ‘pathetic’ by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, who said ‘boasting about it is absurd’
Critics have pointed out that in some cases this included free swimming lessons, cookery classes and other perks.
Even deporting illegal migrants from Britain is costly. A voluntary scheme run by the Home Office allows failed asylum seekers to be paid £3,000 just for agreeing to leave Britain.
Between 2021 and 2024, 13,637 migrants took advantage of this scheme – costing taxpayers £40.9million.
