Migrant Channel crossings edge closer to 17,000 for year so far

Crossings resumed on Friday, marking the first for August after no arrivals were recorded on Thursday.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

Nearly 17,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel.

Crossings resumed on Friday, marking the first for August after no arrivals were recorded on Thursday.

The provisional total for the year so far stands at 16,903, with more than 1,000 crossings recorded within the last week, Home Office figures show.

Earlier this week the number of migrant crossings hit another record high for the first seven months of a calendar year.

The number of arrivals for 2024 to date is 15% higher than this time last year (14,732) but 2% down on the same period in 2022 (17,169), according to PA news agency analysis of Government data.

Pictures showed groups of people wearing life jackets being brought ashore from Border Force boats in Dover, Kent, in the wake of the latest crossings, amid warm weather and calm but hazy conditions at sea.

Witnesses suggested the number of arrivals may be enough to take the total for the year to more than 17,000.

The Home Office will confirm how many arrived on Friday when it publishes the next set of figures on Saturday.

A department spokesman said the crossings were “undermining border security and putting lives at risk”, adding: “The new Government is taking steps to boost our border security, setting up a new border security command which will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas, to smash the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit.”