Record arrivals see migrant Channel crossings top 12,000 for year so far

More than 800 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in a single day – a new record for the year so far.

The Home Office said 882 people made the journey in 15 boats on Tuesday, suggesting an average of 59 people per boat.

The latest crossings take the provisional total for the number of arrivals so far this year to 12,313.

This is 18% higher than this time last year when 10,472 crossings were recorded, and up 5% on the total at this stage in 2022 (11,690), according to PA news agency analysis of Government figures.

Last year, 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

More than 2,000 arrivals have now been recorded since the General Election was called on May 22 (2,431), with immigration a key campaign battleground.

In the last six and a half years as the recent migrant crisis unfolded, 126,658 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel, data recorded since the start of 2018 shows.

Some 81,677 people have made the journey since the Government struck the stalled deal to send migrants to Rwanda in April 2022.

The tally of crossings since Rishi Sunak, who pledged to “stop the boats”, became Prime Minister in October that year is almost 50,000, now standing at 49,376.