This year is shaping up to be the worst on record for small boat crossings, data suggests.
Home Office figures show there have been 4,393 arrivals across the Channel between the start of the year and March 10.
It compared with 3,406 last year – the previous high for the same period of time.
In 2022 – which went on to see record annual arrivals of 45,700 – the figure stood at just 3,150 at the same stage of the year.
However, arrivals are subject to significant variation due to the weather and figures could yet balance out.
The number of small boat arrivals since Labour came to power in July is now 27,373, 28 per cent higher than the 21,410 seen during the equivalent period in 2023-24.
Labour has faced intense criticism over its decision to scrap the Tories’ Rwanda asylum deal as one of its first acts in office.
The plan was designed to deter migrants from risking their lives in the Channel.
Home Office figures show there have been 4,393 arrivals across the Channel between the start of the year and March 10
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Keir Starmer is a weak Prime Minister who immediately scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it had even started’
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said in the wake of the latest figures last night: ‘Labour has lost control of our borders.
‘Keir Starmer is a weak Prime Minister who immediately scrapped the Rwanda deterrent before it had even started.
‘The result is the highest ever number of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel, which includes terrorist sympathisers.
‘Labour has made Britain the soft touch of Europe on migration.’
The Home Office revealed yesterday that 262 migrants were picked up in the Channel on Monday by Border Force vessels and brought to Dover.
It was the ninth successive day to see crossings, after a 13-day period which saw only one day of arrivals.
A view of confiscated small boats and outboard motors used to cross the Channel from France at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent in January
A group of people thought to be migrants are driven away from the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent
In place of the Rwanda scheme the Labour Government is emphasising law enforcement measures against the trafficking gangs.
A Labour source said: ‘About 84,000 people crossed the Channel from the day the Rwanda deal was signed to the day it was scrapped.
‘It cost £700million and didn’t deport a single person or deter a single boat.
‘All it achieved was sending four volunteers to Kigali, to enjoy free housing, free private healthcare, and free university education, at a cost of £150,000 each.
‘The idea that scheme is the answer to anything is a ridiculous joke.’
