Highest daily number of people detected crossing English Channel in small boats on Sunday

The number of people crossing the Channel in small boats was the highest number this year

More than 600 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Sunday - the highest number on a single day so far this year, new figures show.

Some 616 people were detected making the crossing in 12 boots, according to Home Office figures released on Monday, passing this year’s previous high of 497 on Saturday April 22. Each boat carries on average of around 51 people.

It means the number of crossings in 2023 now stands at a provisional total of 8,380, down from around 10,000 at the same point last year.

In total, the number who made the crossing last year reached a record 45,755, prompting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to make tackling small boat crossings a priority for his government this year.

It comes on the day a report by a cross-party group of MPs suggested Albanian migrants to the UK are unlikely to be at risk in their own country or require asylum.

However, more needs to be done to support the Albanian victims of people-smuggling, especially women, the Home Affairs Select Committee said.

In a report published on Monday and focusing on Albania, the committee said there is no clear basis for the UK to accept thousands of asylum applications from Albanian citizens.

Migration data previously revealed that more than a quarter of the 45,755 people who crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2022 were Albanian, most of whom made an asylum claim.

The number of Albanians making the channel crossing in small boats rose from 800 in 2021 to 12,301 last year.

Channel crossings “fluctuate on any given day”, Downing Street said in reaction to the figures.

Rishi Sunak’s spokesman told journalists: “Obviously we know that crossings fluctuate on any given day.

“I think that when the Prime Minister gave his update, he was talking about a five-month average 20% reduction rather than a snapshot figure.

“So we do know that number of crossings fluctuates; equally we know that, on average, the enhanced work with our French counterparts means that you are now more likely to be intercepted and stopped if you attempt to make a crossing than succeed in crossing the Channel.

“So there is a great deal of work going on which is stopping these criminal gangs in their tracks.

“But, clearly, crossings are continuing and that is because we have not been able to put in place our full plans, and obviously there is a great deal of work across Government to that end.”

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