Hundreds more migrants have been brought to shore after illegally crossing the English Channel in small boats this weekend.
Some 492 asylum seekers made the trip yesterday, official Home Office figures revealed – amid warnings people traffickers will continue to make the most of calm summer seas to send more people Britain’s way.
And today’s tally could prove to be even higher, a week after 703 people crossed the Channel to the UK last Sunday – a record level for the new Labour government.
They took the total of people making it to Britain since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister after the July 4 general election to 5,492 – and an overall toll of 19,066 this year.
The incoming Labour government has scrapped outgoing PM Rishi Sunak’s plans to fly migrants to Rwanda.
Two people also died attempting the perilous journey last weekend.
Downing Street last week indicated the Prime Minister was ‘expecting’ more boat crossings this summer – assisted by the warmest weather of the year so far.
It was also claimed hat UK-bound migrants suffered suspected ‘punishment shootings’ in France in the latest evidence of horrific violence among organised crime traffickers.
The two teenagers were treated for leg injuries after the attack on Sunday before being released to continue their journeys from France to Britain, the Mail can reveal.
A French investigative source said the two Sudanese boys – one aged just 16 – were attacked in Calais on Sunday by a group of Afghans.
After being treated in hospital for knee and thigh wounds they refused to cooperate with police and were free to carry on attempting to cross the English Channel.
Both the injured Sudanese teenagers were caught up in the increasingly vicious gang wars involving ruthless traffickers who provide £1,000-a-head trips to Britain by small boat.
The 16-year-old was the most seriously hurt, with a gunshot wound to a knee.
The second victim, 18, was wounded in the right thigh before being found hiding about three miles away from Calais port.
Stopping small boat arrivals was a key issue in Britain’s general election campaign, with Sir Keir vowing to ‘smash the gangs’ responsible for the crossings.
When asked last Monday whether whether Labour was failing to stop the boats as effectively as the previous Tory administration, Sir Keir’s spokesman said: ‘I wouldn’t agree with that.
‘We know this summer is a challenging time and we expect to see increases before we see improvements in line with that.
‘We know that it’s in these months that criminal gangs seek to exploit people, taking ever more dangerous tactics and approaches.
‘That’s why it’s vital that we work to smash the gangs responsible for that and who are risking lives in the Channel.’
But the new PM’s spokesman denied suggestions that abandoning the Rwanda scheme had made the situation worse, saying there was ‘no link’ between ditching it and the number of arrivals.
‘Our focus is actually on getting an immigration system working that can process cases and bear down on the gangs that are driving this,’ he added.
Sir Keir and France’s President Emmanuel Macron have pledged to strengthen ‘cooperation’ in handling the surge in undocumented migrant numbers.
The PM’s plan involves creating a new Border Security Command, bringing together existing immigration units given new ‘counter-terrorism style’ powers.
But shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly last week accused Labour of sending ‘the wrong signal’ by ditching the previous Tory government’s Rwanda proposals – after figures showed small boat crossings had topped 18,000 for this year.
The former minister and Conservative leadership hopeful said the numbers showed the Government’s ‘phantom border command clearly isn’t working’.
Mr Cleverly said: ‘Since Labour have ditched our deterrent, more and more boats are crossing the channel with more and more people in them.
‘They’ve sent the wrong signal, throwing the doors open instead of doing what is necessary to stop the dangerous crossings.
‘The Government’s phantom border command clearly isn’t working. They need to get a grip and fast, otherwise the numbers will continue to climb.’
The highest number of arrivals recorded in a single day so far this year was 882 on June 18 and the second highest was 711 on May 1, both under the previous government prior to the general election.
The running tally is up by 13 per cent on the same point last year but three per cent lower than at this stage in 2022 which would see an annual record of 45,000 arrivals.
At the end of 2018 the then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared a ‘national emergency’ as migrant boats began to cross from continental Europe.
Since then, more than 132,000 migrants have reached Britain.
Labour is also expected to fast-track plans to allow 90,000 migrants earmarked for deportation to Rwanda to claim asylum in Britain.
The Refugee Council estimates that between 60,000 and 90,000 people will be granted asylum despite having entered the country illegally.
However, officials are expected to prioritise asylum seekers from ‘safe’ countries such as Vietnam, Albania, Egypt and India, which makes up 30 per cent of the overall figure, The Telegraph reported.