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The number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel rose by a quarter last year in the past 12 months, government data showed on Wednesday.
A total of 36,816 people arrived in Britain by small boat in 2024, a 25 per cent increase on the 29,437 arrivals in 2023, according to provisional figures published by the Home Office.
The tally will add to pressure on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to tackle irregular migration, after he promised to “break up the gangs” that control illegal trade during last year's general election campaign.
Immigration and asylum is now the second most important thing for voters after the economy, beating health, according to a poll tracker by the research company YouGov.
The latest tally makes 2024 the second highest year for crossing the Channel since data began to be compiled in 2018. However, it drops by 20 percent in the peak year of 2022, when 45,774 people arrive.
The last crossing took place on December 29, when 291 people made the journey from France in six boats. Bad weather prevented crossing for the last two days of the year.
Former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak was forced to admit he had failed in his promise to “stop the boats” after the Tories suffered a landslide defeat in the July election.
In the first part of the year, until the voting day on July 4, the record number of immigrants fell compared to comparable periods in previous years.
A further 13,574 migrants arrived in the UK during that period, up 19 per cent on the same period last year and up 5 per cent on the same period in 2022, according to an analysis of Home Office data by the PA news agency.
After Labour's victory, the number of arrivals until the end of 2024 was higher than last year but lower than the same period in 2022.
Last year was considered the deadliest crossing of the Channel, according to data from the French coast guard service. It found that 53 people had died while sailing through the world's busiest shipping lane, and some campaign groups estimated the number to be higher.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ministers had a moral responsibility to cross the Channel but refused to put a deadline on the government's pledge to ensure numbers fell “sharply”.
Starmer insisted that Labor had “gained a very bad position” from the previous Tory administration, which he accused of focusing too much on the “gimmick” of removing asylum seekers who arrived on small boats to Rwanda.
On entering Downing Street, he scrapped the controversial scheme before it started, shifting the UK's focus towards deeper cooperation with European partners and law enforcement agencies.
The latest figures show that an average of 53 migrants will arrive per boat in 2024, four more in 2023, and a sharp increase in 2018 when the average boat carries seven people.
The number of people arriving in the UK by small boats last year remained below Italy, Spain and Greece.