More than 30,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year

More than 30,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year according to official government figures.

A total of 667 migrants and 15 boats were detected yesterday (21 September) with young children wrapped in blankets among the large numbers of migrants brought ashore.

People wearing winter coats, some carrying children, climbed down a ladder from a packed RNLI lifeboat and on to the beach at Dungeness, Kent, on Wednesday morning (21 September).

They then boarded buses and were taken to be processed. Several groups of people were also seen arriving in Dover after another busy day in the Channel.

The provisional total for 2022 so far now stands at 30,515, after 93 people also made the journey in four boats on Tuesday and the Ministry of Defence revised the number of crossings recorded on September 12 from 601 to 650.

The overall figure is higher than for the whole of last year (28,526).

Last week nearly 40 people were rescued from the Channel when their boat sank off the south coast.

Government officials said last month that it was remarkable there had not been any serious incidents, such as drownings, so far this year as the average number of people per boat rose to 44, compared with 28 in 2021.