More than 700 migrants crossed the Channel in 11 small boats, one of the highest daily totals this year, according to Home Office figures. The incident follows three days when no crossings at all were detected.
The problem of illegal crossings of the Channel has become particularly acute. Since the beginning of the year, the total number of people crossing the Channel has totalled 24,335. Often migrants die while crossing the Channel because boats become overcrowded and capsize. So far, the highest number of arrivals in a single day was 882 people on 15 boats on 18 June.
Earlier this month, eight people died and six people, including a 10-month-old baby, ended up in hospital after a boat with 53 migrants on board crashed into rocks off the Ambletose coast in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the arrivals included people linked to Islamic State and Al Qaeda. At least 1,000 people arriving on small boats by the end of 2022 were “linked to crime of all kinds” and arrived claiming to be refugees, he said.
