More people have crossed Channel in small boats this year than in all of 2023

Labour’s policy to ‘smash the gangs’ is not yet having an impact, Home Office figures show

The number of migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year has exceeded the total number that arrived in the whole of 2023, according to figures published by the Home Office.

As of Friday, 29,578 people had made the crossing, compared with 29,437 for last year. It is unlikely that the 2022 total of 45,755 migrants who arrived in small boats will be exceeded by the end of December 2024.