More Than 1,000 Illegal Immigrants Cross English Channel in 2 Days

A group of people thought to be illegal immigrants are brought in onboard a Border Force vessel to Dover, Kent, on July 7, 2023. Gareth Fuller/PA Media

More than 1,000 illegal immigrants arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in two days, taking the provisional total for the year so far to over 12,500.

A total of 384 people were detected on Saturday and 686 on Friday—the new highest daily total this year, according to Home Office figures.

It means 1,070 migrants crossed the Channel over two days, in 13 boats on Friday and in seven boats on Saturday, taking the provisional total for the year so far to 12,503.

The illegal immigration crisis in the English Channel has worsened in recent years despite the government’s promises to make the route “unviable.”

According to official figures, 45,755 illegal immigrants crossed the Channel in small boats in 2022, setting a new record.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping small boat crossings one of his priorities for the year, along with cutting NHS waiting lists, growing the economy, halving inflation, and reducing the national debt.

Overcrowding

A report released last month criticised the Home Office’s handling of the small boat crisis and warned the UK may not be able to cope with a predicted summer surge of illegal immigrants.

David Neal, the chief inspector of borders and immigration, said there is a “very real danger” of a build-up at the government’s main processing centre for Channel arrivals in Kent, owing to a lack of outgoing accommodation.

In the border and immigration inspector’s latest report (pdf), Neal said this could lead to a repeat of last autumn’s overcrowding crisis at the Manston centre.

A group of people thought to be illegal immigrants gesture as they leave onboard a coach from the Manston immigration short-term holding facility located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent, on Nov. 2, 2022. Gareth Fuller/PA Media

Neal said he’d received “no clear answer” from senior officials as to where tens of thousands of people who are expected to arrive between 2023 and 2024 will be accommodated.

“I do not think that anyone knows yet,” he said. “This is a considerable risk.”

In a separate report, the National Audit Office (NAO) said the government was “failing to secure enough accommodation to end the use of hotels” for illegal immigrants.

The spending watchdog revealed that the Home Office had been forced to abandon its target of finding 500 extra spaces a week in council accommodation into which to transfer illegal immigrants from hotels.

In the year ending this April, it had found only 48 extra council spaces a week.

“The Home Office now acknowledges that it is unlikely to achieve its accommodation targets and is looking at how it can increase its supply and identify different sources of accommodation,” said the NAO report.

Illegal Migration Bill

Meanwhile, the government’s flagship Illegal Migration Bill is facing resistance in Parliament and in courts.

Under the proposed bills, anyone who arrives in the UK illegally will be banned from claiming asylum, and will be deported to their home country or a safe third country like Rwanda, and will also be banned from reentry.

Last month, judges at the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier High Court ruling and ruled that the policy is “unlawful.”

The judges said deficiencies in the Rwanda asylum system mean there is a risk asylum seekers could be returned to their home country, where they may face the risk of inhumane treatment.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he “fundamentally” disagrees with the ruling and the government will seek to appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

The government also suffered setbacks in the House of Lords, which inflicted a total of 20 defeats against the government’s proposals.

But Downing Street said last week that it had recognised from the outset that the proposals would “face a challenge from all sides.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman said the Lords had the right to scrutinise government policy but that ministers “continue to believe that this bill is the right and appropriate way to stop the boats.”

Patricia Devlin and PA Media contributed to this report.