Channel migrants: More than 1,300 people cross in three days

Twenty boats crossed the Channel in two days, Home Office figures show

More than 1,300 migrants have crossed the English Channel in three days, according to government figures.

On Friday, 686 people made the journey from France - the highest daily figure so far this year - in 13 boats, Home Office data shows.

On Saturday 384 people crossed in seven boats, and 269 in five boats on Sunday.

So far this year, 12,773 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats, figures collated by the BBC show.

The number who made the crossing in 2022 reached a record 45,755, prompting Rishi Sunak to make "stopping the boats" a key priority.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been battling to get her central policy of forcibly removing unauthorised arrivals to Rwanda off the ground after it was blocked by appeal judges.

The government has lodged a bid to take its legal battle to the UK's most senior judges at the Supreme Court.

Small boat arrivals accounted for about 45% of asylum applications made in 2022.

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