More than 80,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since the Government struck the Rwanda deal over two years ago.
The agreement signed by then home secretary Priti Patel on April 14 2022 – which she described as a “world-first” – paved the way for migrants to be handed a one-way ticket to the east African nation if they were deemed to have arrived in the UK illegally.
Some 80,109 migrants have been recorded arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel between April 15 2022 and June 4 2024, according to PA news agency analysis of Government figures.
The Home Office said 234 people made the journey in four boats on Tuesday. This suggests an average of 59 people per boat and takes the provisional total number of crossings for the year so far to 10,745.
This is up 41% on the number recorded this time last year (7,610) and 8% higher than the same point in 2022 (9,984), PA analysis of the data shows.