More migrants make perilous English Channel crossing into UK as 2021 figure approaches last year’s record

More than 8,000 people have crossed to the UK on board small boats so far this year
Migrant Channel crossing incidents
Migrants are escorted from the beach in Dungeness, Kent, by Border Force officers after landing on Tuesday morning
PA
Michael Howie20 July 2021

More migrants continued to risk making the perilous journey across the English Channel to the UK on Tuesday - as the numbers for 2021 approaches the entire figure for 2020.

More than 8,000 people have succeeded in making the dangerous trip so far this year, according to data analysis by the PA news agency.

Young children, some too small to walk, were seen being helped by lifeboat volunteers as they reached a beach in Kent on Tuesday.

Men, women and children, many of whom have fled violence, torture and persecution, regularly set off from France packed on board unseaworthy dinghies, often after paying people-smugglers.

High numbers of migrants continue to risk their lives in their bid to cross the 21-mile Dover Strait, despite Home Secretary Priti Patel's vow to make the route "unviable".

More people reached Britain on Tuesday, with reports of arrivals in Dover as well as a beach landing at Dungeness.

Dramatic pictures show people climbing down from a lifeboat onto the beach, with a woman seen carrying a toddler in her arms as she made her way ashore.

Around 40 people are thought to have been aboard a single boat that arrived at the shore in Dungeness, with dozens of people seen on the beach beneath 24C sun.

With more than 8,000 people having crossed to the UK on board small boats so far this year, 2021 is nearing the total annual figure of 8,417 reached in 2020, according to PA.

Numbers of crossings have shot up in recent years, with last year's total more than quadrupling the number of arrivals in 2019.

Despite this, the UK continues to see far fewer boat arrivals and asylum claims than many of its European counterparts.

At least 44,230 people have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea so far this year, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Also, despite the sharp rise in small boats arrivals on the south coast, asylum applications in the UK fell in 2020 to 29,456.

This was significantly lower than the 93,475 asylum applications made in France and the 121,955 made in Germany.

In October, a Kurdish-Iranian family, including small children, died when their migrant boat sank off the French coast.

Speaking on Times Radio, immigration minister Chris Philp said Monday was the "worst day ever" for crossings and it is "vital" that action is taken.

He said Ms Patel is close to reaching an "enhanced agreement" with French authorities to boost co-operation and increase police patrols on French beaches.

Mr Philp also pledged that the controversial Nationality and Borders Bill currently going through Parliament "closes some loopholes" and will reform the asylum system.

However a coalition of campaigners called Together With Refugees has said the Bill is inhumane and unworkable.

Migrants arrive in the UK

Migrant Channel crossing incidents
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