First migrant Channel crossing of year as around 50 people arrive in Dover
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Dozens of people were brought ashore at Dover on a Border Force vessel on Saturday in the first reported migrant Channel crossing of the year.
No arrivals had been recorded since Dec 16, according to Home Office figures, but on Saturday morning a group of around 50 people believed to be migrants were brought into the the Kent Channel port.
The gap from Dec 16 had meant there were 26 days on which no crossings to the UK were recorded, the longest gap in small boat arrivals for five years.
Poor weather conditions were cited for reducing the number of crossing attempts, but James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, has denied that this contributed to falling numbers overall.
The provisional annual total of small boats arrivals for last year – 29,437 – is 36 per cent lower than the record 45,774 crossings registered in 2022. However, it is still the second highest annual total on record, above the 2021 figure of 28,526.
On Friday, Mr Cleverly insisted the weather was not a “contributory factor” to falling migrant crossings, saying the number of good sailing days recorded by officials for the year was only four fewer than the previous year.
He claimed the decrease was instead because of cooperation with Europe, disrupting the supply chain of engines and boats, and “going after the money of these people smugglers”.
The Government argued that the figures were evidence of the UK’s £480 million agreement with France to beef up efforts to stop migrants making the journey starting to pay off, as well as the effectiveness of a fast-track returns deal with Albania.
But the Immigration Services Union, which represents border staff, said the drop in arrivals was likely to be a “glitch”, with higher numbers of Channel crossings expected this year.
Mr Cleverly also set himself a target of meeting Rishi Sunak’s “stop the boats” pledge by the end of the year – a deadline Downing Street later refused to repeat.
