Home Office figures showed that 717 people crossed in 13 small boats on Sunday, with 707 arriving on Saturday
More than 25,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, with the figure emerging as Border Force rescued more people from a sinking dinghy.
Home Office figures showed that 717 migrants crossed in 13 boats on Sunday, taking the total for the year to 25,052 to date. It was the third highest number of arrivals recorded on a single day this year, after 882 on June 18 and 801 on Sep 14.
A rescue operation was launched to save a migrant boat in difficulty on the English side of the Channel on Monday. Strong winds and choppy conditions made the already risky crossing even more dangerous.
An RNLI lifeboat and a search and rescue helicopter were deployed by the Coastguard, and the rescued migrants could be seen swaddled in blankets and wearing life jackets as they disembarked from a Border Force boat at Dover, Kent.
Sunday’s 717 arrivals mean 1,424 people crossed the Channel this weekend, with 707 having arrived in 11 boats on Saturday.
The total for the year so far is up four per cent on this time last year, when it stood at 23,996, but 21 per cent lower than the same period in 2022 (31,686), the record year for crossings.
Since the general election, 11,478 people have arrived in 202 small boats despite the Government’s pledge to “smash the gangs’.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“As we have seen with so many recent devastating tragedies in the Channel, the people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
“We are making progress, bolstering our personnel numbers in the UK and abroad. Our new Border Security Command will strengthen our global partnerships and enhance our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute these evil criminals.”
