More than 15,000 migrants arrive in UK crossing English Channel this year so far

More than 15,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel this year as more people made the journey on Thursday, according to new Home Office figures.

Some 317 people travelled across the busy shipping lane in six boats, in the first recorded arrivals since Monday when 427 people made the crossing in seven boats.

This brings the provisional total of migrants arriving via the English Channel in 2024 so far to 15,076.

This is 9% higher than the number recorded this time last year (13,774) and 0.2% down on the same period in 2022 (15,106), according to PA news agency analysis of Government data.

Boats continued to cross the Channel on Friday.

It comes as one person died and 71 others were rescued in an incident off the coast of northern France on Wednesday, sparking a rescue operation involving French coastguard, Border Force and the RNLI.

All the rescued migrants were returned to Calais.

The Home Office denied there had been a change in policy amid reports the Border Force vessel had returned migrants to Calais for the first time ever.

It is understood the migrants were brought to the French port at the request of the French, and that rescued people are routinely taken to the closest safe port – which could be in France – by UK vessels under the country’s international maritime obligations.

The death comes after four migrants died in the English Channel on July 12, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday was a “chilling reminder of the human cost” of people smuggling as he vowed to tackle the issue at the European Political Community summit.

Speaking on Friday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard welcomed the “effort by Border Force to make sure that we are tackling that cross-Channel smuggling operation that’s going on”.

Asked whether there was a new policy for Border Force to return small boats to France, he told LBC Radio: “We’ll be working out the full policy and how it works. I’m afraid it’s not as simple as taking every single boat back to the French shore.

“But what we have seen is French ships intercepting some of those dinghies travelling across the Channel and returning to France. We’d like to see more effort put in place like this, so we’re stopping that illegal trade.”