Migrants arrive in Dover after Channel crossings top 17,000 for the year

Migrants wearing life jackets arrived in Dover on Monday after more than 17,000 Channel crossings were recorded for the year so far.

Pictures show new arrivals of people getting off a Border Force vessel at the Kent port, with most wearing life jackets, while some carried belongings and were covered in blankets.

The crossings come as Home Office data recorded 139 people arriving in three boats on August 4, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 17,170.

The number of arrivals for 2024 to date is 15% higher than this time last year (14,994) but 3% down on the same period in 2022 (17,611), according to PA news agency analysis of Government data.

Last this week the number of migrant crossings hit another record high for the first seven months of a calendar year.

The number of arrivals for 2024 to date is 15% higher than this time last year (14,732) but 2% down on the same period in 2022 (17,169), according to PA news agency analysis of Government data.

A Home Office spokesman last week said the crossings were “undermining border security and putting lives at risk”, adding: “The new Government is taking steps to boost our border security, setting up a new border security command which will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas, to smash the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit.”

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