Decline in migrant crossings to UK in 2023 deemed ‘glitch’
The number of migrants crossing the Channel to Britain fell by about a third last year, but border staff warned that the drop is a “glitch” and higher numbers are expected this year.
About 29,440 people made the crossing between France and Britain last year, provisional data released by the UK government showed.
That is 36 per cent lower than the record 45,774 crossings for the whole of 2022, but higher than the figure for 2021 (28,526).
But the Immigration Services Union, which represents border staff, said the decrease in small boat arrivals was unlikely to continue into the new year.
Lucy Moreton, the union’s professional officer, said that the “planning assumption for 2024 is that 2023 has been unusually low”.
She said other “confounding factors”, particularly high winds, made migrant crossings much more difficult for much of last year.
“But we have also had much larger boats, much more seaworthy boats, so the planning assumption is that this is a glitch,” she added.
The last crossings of the year took place on December 16, when 55 people made the journey from France in one boat.
There were no crossings over the Christmas period for the first time in five years.
The Home Office recorded no further crossings for the last 15 days of last year amid bad weather. That is the longest consecutive period of the year without any arrivals.
The perilous journeys across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes have become a major political problem for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who pledged last year to “stop the boats”.
His ministers claim Britain’s £480 million ($60.6 million) agreement with France to increase efforts to stop migrant crossings is starting to pay off, alongside fast-track return deals struck with countries including Albania.
The Conservative Party hoped to deter the crossings by preventing all migrants arriving without prior authorisation from applying for asylum and sending some to Rwanda.
But the policy remains stalled after the Supreme Court ruled that deporting them to the African country is illegal under international law.
The cross-Channel journeys on small inflatable vessels, often overloaded and unseaworthy, have often proved deadly.
In August, at least six men died and dozens needed rescuing after a small vessel sank after leaving France.
In November 2021, at least 27 people died when their dinghy capsized.