INEWS
The number of migrants crossing the Channel dropped by a third in 2023 compared to the previous year, but Border Force officials warned it is likely to rise in 2024 as smugglers get hold of “larger boats”.
The total number of people recorded as arriving by small boat in 2023 stands at 29,437, provisional figures released by the Home Office reveal.
The figure is 36 per cent lower than 2022’s record figure of 45,774, marking the first time that Channel crossings have reduced annually since records began five years ago.
But the Immigration Services Union, which represents Border Force officers, warned that the drop was likely to be a “glitch” due to poor weather, with higher numbers expected in 2024.
The body said that people smugglers had been detected using “much larger” and safer boats which were likely to see more people arrive in the UK this year.
“The planning assumption for 2024 is that 2023 has been unusually low,” Lucy Moreton, the union’s professional officer, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
