Eight more small boats filled with migrants landed in Dover yesterday after making the perilous crossing over the English Channel – taking the total number of migrants arriving via the route to more than 28,000 this year.
With 364 asylum seekers arriving on Sunday alone, 28,072 people have now made the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Strait so far in 2023, according to official government figures.
November alone has seen 1,373 migrants arrive in 28 boats – an average of 49 people crammed into each inflatable dinghy.
Eight boats were brought into Dover after being intercepted at sea, with the first group escorted into the harbour on Border Force catamaran Hurricane around 1pm.
They were wrapped up in red blankets, hooded jackets, and hats and scarves, after battling cold and wet conditions in the Channel.
The first boat was escorted into the harbour on Border Force catamaran Hurricane around 1pm on Sunday (file image)
With 364 asylum seekers arriving on Sunday alone, 28,072 people have now made the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Strait so far in 2023
Around half an hour later, Border Force catamaran Defender brought dozens more migrants into the port.
The mostly male group could be seen removing their orange lifejackets and passing them to UK officials, as they were led along the former jetfoil terminal to be taken for processing.
More migrants were intercepted shortly before 3pm and brought into Dover on another Border Force vessel.
Around 5pm another group of asylum seekers could be seen disembarking at the port in the dark, while the final arrivals were brought into the harbour at 6pm.
The same day, a further 35 migrants were rescued by French authorities.
Early in the morning on Sunday, the French coastguard centre CROSS spotted a boat in difficulty off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The Maritime Police boat Aber Ildut was tasked with rescuing the stranded people but they ‘refused’ the assistance, according to the Maritime Prefect. Aber Ildut continued to maintain surveillance of the boat.
Several hours later, at the beginning of the afternoon, the assistance and rescue tug (RIAS) Abeille Normandie, chartered by the French Navy, was asked to monitor the dinghy. By this point, several people on board accepted the assistance offered.
The French Navy picked up a total of 35 migrants, who were returned to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by the departmental fire and rescue service and the border police.
But the migrants still on board the dinghy managed to restart the boat’s engine and refused to be rescued.
According to the Maritime Prefect, a decision was made to let them continue with their journey to the UK, as it was deemed too risky to intervene.
By November 26, 2022, a total of 42,242 migrants had arrived in the UK by small boat – over 14,000 more than at the same stage this year.
November alone has seen 1,373 migrants arrive in 28 boats – an average of 49 people crammed into each inflatable dinghy
Last year saw a record 45,755 migrants make the treacherous crossing overall – 60 per cent higher than in 2021 when 28,526 people reached Britain in dinghies.
This comes after figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that net migration into the UK was at a record 745,000 last year.
The ONS said the population of England and Wales grew by around one per cent in the year to June 2022 – the fastest rate since the baby boom of the 1960s – with the increase driven by international migration.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said migration was putting ‘unsustainable pressure on communities and councils’.
While Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the ‘shockingly high’ net migration figures represent ‘a failure not just of immigration, but also of asylum and of the economy’.