More than 10,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year
More than 10,000 migrants have arrived in the UK so far this year after crossing the Channel.
Home Office figures published on Saturday show 288 people made the journey in five boats on Friday, taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 10,170.
It is a new record for this stage in the year, passing the 9,326 who made the perilous crossing by this point in 2022.
Last year it took until June 17 to reach the 10,000 mark.
The Home Office said the latest figures show ‘exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible’.
The Government’s Rwanda plan would see some asylum seekers sent to the African country for processing.
Immigration has become a key campaign battleground ahead of the election and could cause a headache for Rishi Sunak.
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The prime minister had pledged to ‘stop the boats’ altogether, describing his Rwanda plan as an ‘indispensable deterrent’.
But he announced this week that no planes will take off before the General Election on July 4.
Labour has committed to scrapping the programme altogether.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We continue to work closely with our French partners to prevent crossings and save lives.’
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