Channel migrants: Four boats with 132 people make the crossing

The Home Office says 132 people were intercepted or rescued as they crossed the English Channel (Library photo)

Four small boats with 132 people on board crossed the English Channel on Saturday, the Home Office said.

The Home Office has released figures showing that 28,526 people made the crossing from France in small boats 2021, treble the number in 2020.

This compares to 665 migrants who were found at UK ports in lorries or shipping containers.

So far this year over 1,400 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats.

The Home Office has refused to comment on whether the arrivals were taken to a new processing centre in Manston, the BBC's Simon Jones said.

The site on a former military base replaces the now-closed facility at Tug Haven, beside the jetty in Dover.

Tom Pursglove, minister for justice and tackling illegal migration, said: "The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

"Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also risk lives and impact on the UK taxpayer."

Mr Pursglove said: "Through our Nationality and Borders Bill, we're cracking down on people smugglers and fixing the broken system by making it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and introducing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for those who facilitate illegal entry into the country."

The number of people who crossed the English Channel in small boats last year was treble the number for 2020.

This was despite huge UK investment in France to prevent crossings.

In 2020, a total of 8,417 people crossed the Channel in small boats.

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