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The number of migrants arriving in the UK in 2024 after crossing the English Channel in small boats was up by a quarter on the previous year, figures show.
Some 36,816 people made the journey in 2024, a jump of 25% from the 29,437 who arrived in 2023, according to provisional figures from the Home Office. The total is down 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022, however.
The last crossings of the year took place on December 29, when 291 people made the journey from France in six boats.
The Home Office recorded no further crossings for the remaining two days of 2024, amid blustery weather conditions.
It means 2024 saw the second highest number of arrivals in a year since data on Channel crossings began in 2018.
The total was comparatively low in both 2018 (299) and 2019 (1,843), before climbing to 8,466 in 2020, 28,526 in 2021 and a record 45,774 in 2022.
It then fell in 2023 to 29,437, before rising in 2024 to 36,816.
The jump in crossings came in a year that former prime minister Rishi Sunak had to accept he failed to meet his vow to “stop the boats” when the Conservatives were defeated by Labour in the general election.
The change in government also meant former home secretary Suella Braverman never got to see her “dream” of sending migrants to Rwanda become reality, after the policy stalled amid legal action and was then ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.
Her successor James Cleverly never succeeded in his bid to get flights off the ground, despite bringing fresh legislation back to Parliament and signing another treaty with the east African nation in a bid to firm up the agreement and satisfy concerns raised by the court.
Some 13,574 migrants arrived in the UK between the start of 2024 and the general election on July 5, according to analysis of Home Office data by the PA news agency.
It was a record number for this period of the year and was 19% higher than the 11,433 who arrived between January 1 and July 5 in 2023, as well as being 5% higher than the 12,900 who arrived in the equivalent period in 2022.
The number of arrivals between the general election and the end of 2024 was also higher than the equivalent period in 2023, but lower than the figure for 2022.
Some 23,242 migrants arrived between Labour’s victory on July 5 and December 31, up 29% on the 18,004 arrivals in this period in 2023 and down 29% on the 32,855 in 2022.
At his first press conference after entering Number 10 as Prime Minister in July, Sir Keir Starmer said the deportation plan was “dead and buried”, with Labour swiftly meeting one of its manifesto pledges by scrapping the scheme.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper last month said the Government had a moral responsibility to tackle Channel crossings but refused to set a deadline on when a target to see the numbers fall “sharply” would be met.
Ms Cooper said the UK must “go after” the gangs behind the dangerous crossings and appeared to rule out creating more safe and legal routes for asylum seekers as a way of curbing the number of attempts when facing questions from MPs.
Sir Keir has put international co-operation with law enforcement agencies in Europe at the heart of his bid to cut the number of arrivals.
The Prime Minister previously said his Government “inherited a very bad position” with record numbers of migrants in the first half of last year “because the entire focus until we had the election was on a gimmick, the Rwanda gimmick, and not enough attention was on taking down the gangs that are running this vile trade”.
But “if the boats and the engines aren’t available, it obviously makes it much more difficult for these crossings to be made”, he said.
His comments follow him previously vowing to “treat people smugglers like terrorists” as he announced extra cash for his new border security command.
The National Crime Agency said it is leading around 70 live investigations into organised immigration crime or human trafficking.
The year 2024 was considered the deadliest for Channel crossings, according to incidents recorded by the French coastguard, with 53 people dying while embarking on the journey across the busiest shipping lane in the world to reach the UK.
The International Organisation for Migration has reported several more migrant deaths which are believed to be linked to crossing attempts last year.
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