More than 45,000 illegal immigrants entered the UK last year by crossing the English Channel in small boats, according to government figures released on Sunday. Britain has attempted to pay France to stop the crossings, as legal action stymied its plan to deport the migrants to Rwanda.
Two boats carried 90 people across the Channel to the UK on Christmas Day, bringing to 45,756 the total number of migrants to make the journey in 2022, up from 28,395 in 2021. No further crossings were recorded before New Year’s Day, the Ministry of Defense noted on Sunday.
Since crossings first began to rise in 2018, the majority of the migrants came from Iran, Iraq, and a number of other middle-Eastern countries. However, 42% of all arrivals in the second half of 2022 came from Albania, a country that is considered “safe” by the British government.