Migrant crossings: Channel boats bring 364 more people

Authorities dealt with 1,115 people crossing in 40 boats on Friday and Saturday

Eleven boats with 364 migrants on board crossed the English Channel to reach Kent on Sunday, the Home Office said.

French authorities also stopped 16 vessels, preventing over 500 further migrants from making the crossing.

It follows 40 boat crossings on Friday and Saturday which saw 1,115 people make the journey.

The Home Office said there had been nearly 300 arrests and 65 convictions related to small-boat crossings so far this year.

Dan O'Mahoney, Clandestine Channel Threat Commander, said the government was determined to tackle the "unacceptable rise in dangerous Channel crossings".

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More than 18,000 people have made the crossing from France to England in small boats so far this year, compared to just over 8,460 in 2020, according to Home Office figures.

Some 3,879 migrants made the crossing in September.

In July, the UK promised France £54m to boost police patrols at its beaches.

On Saturday, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said "not one euro" had been transferred, but Security Minister Damian Hinds said payments should be finalised in "the coming weeks".

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