Sunday 14 August 2022 11:01 AM More than 20,000 migrants have crossed Channel in small boats this year, ... trends now
More than 20,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year, Government figures show.
Some 607 were detected on Saturday - the third time the total has topped 600 since the start of 2022.
It takes the provisional total for the year to 20,017.
By this point last year, just over 11,300 crossings had been made - although there was a spike in the latter few months of the year which brought the total to 28,526 crossings.
There have been 3,618 crossings detected in August so far, with 1,694 in the past week, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Members of the Border Force escort migrants back to Dover after they were picked up in the English Channel yesterday morning
A woman using a walking aid and accompanied by a young girl was among those taken in for processing at Dover yesterday
Yesterday the Border Force picked up 607 people who made the crossings in 14 boats - the equivalent of around 43 people per vessel
The highest daily total for 2022 to date was recorded on August 1, when 696 people made the crossing in 14 boats.
Yesterday the Border Force picked up 607 people who made the crossing in 14 boats - the equivalent of around 43 people per vessel.
The highest number of crossings in a single day was on November 11 last year, when 1,185 people arrived in the UK on small boats.
Leaked figures revealed that Albanians currently make up the largest ethnic group of those making the crossings. Migrants from the Balkan country now make up four in ten arrivals from northern France with 1,075 Albanians arriving in the UK aboard dinghies and small boats in the six weeks to July 12.
Border Force officials escorted migrants to Dover Docks after they crossed the English Channel on Tuesday morning
Among the latest arrivals on Tuesday were at least four small children — two of which were led along the gangway for processing by a female soldier who held their hands
