Migrant Channel crossings edge closer to 17,000 for year so far

2 Aug 2024 • 7:09 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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Nearly 17,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel.

Crossings resumed on Friday, marking the first for August after no arrivals were recorded on Thursday.

The provisional total for the year so far stands at 16,903, with more than 1,000 crossings recorded within the last week, Home Office figures show.

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Earlier this week the number of migrant crossings hit another record high for the first seven months of a calendar year.

The number of arrivals for 2024 to date are 15% higher than this time last year (14,732) but 2% down on the same period in 2022 (17,169), according to PA news agency analysis of Government data.

Pictures showed groups of people wearing life jackets being brought ashore from Border Force boats in Dover, Kent, in the wake of the latest crossings, amid warm weather and calm but hazy conditions at sea.

Witnesses suggested the number of arrivals may be enough to take the total for the year to more than 17,000.

The Home Office will confirm how many arrived on Friday when it publishes the next set of figures on Saturday.

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