Record numbers of migrants cross Channel in 2024

Home Office data shows 338 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Tuesday

The number of migrants who have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel has reached a record high for the first three months of a calendar year.

According to provisional Home Office figures, 338 people arrived in seven boats on Tuesday, taking the total for the year to date to 4,644.

The previous record for arrivals in January to March was set in 2022 with 4,548.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year."

The Home Office said the number of crossings was “unacceptable”

The number of arrivals so far this year is 23% higher than the total at this point in 2023, which was 3,770, a PA news agency analysis of government figures show.

It is also 12% higher than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 4,162.

There were 29,437 arrivals across the whole of 2023, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

The figures come after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak continued to insist his plan to “stop the boats” was working, even though crossings in 2024 were tracking ahead of recent years.

Downing Street said the government was dealing with a “migration emergency” after a record day for crossings last week.

Some 514 people made the journey in 10 boats on 20 March, making it the busiest day of 2024.

Meanwhile, the Government’s Rwanda Bill remains stuck in parliamentary limbo after a series of further defeats in the House of Lords.

Members of Parliament are not scheduled to debate it again until after Westminster returns from its Easter break.

Labour's shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said: “Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Rishi Sunak keeps on telling the British people that small boat arrivals are coming down and his promise to stop the boats remains on track.

"It’s time to get a grip and restore order to the border.”

The Home Office said the number of crossings was “unacceptable” and shows “exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible”.

Asli Tatliadim, head of campaigns at Refugee Action, said: "People will continue to risk their lives to cross the Channel in flimsy boats because the government refuses to open safe routes for people to reach the UK to seek asylum here.

"No amount of expensive and unworkable deterrence policies such as its deal with the government of Rwanda will change that fact."