LONDON: More than 4,600 asylum seekers have arrived in the UK on small boats to this point in 2024, a record complete for the first three months of the yr and giving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a recent political headache.
Provisional information from the Home Office, or inside ministry, confirmed right this moment that 4,644 individuals had been detected arriving throughout the Channel on small boats akin to inflatable dinghies as much as March 26 this yr.
That compares with 3,770 for the identical interval final yr and 4,162 for 2022, the earlier record excessive.
Sunak is hoping his flagship scheme to deport these arriving in the UK with out permission to Rwanda will deter individuals from making the harmful cross-Channel crossings. Legislation which goals to get that plan up and working after a sequence of authorized setbacks is due again in parliament subsequent month.
“The unacceptable quantity of people that proceed to cross the Channel demonstrates precisely why we should get flights to Rwanda off the floor as quickly as doable,” a Home Office spokesman stated final week.
“We proceed to work intently with French police who’re dealing with growing violence and disruption on their seashores as they work tirelessly to stop these harmful, unlawful, and pointless journeys.”
Overall annual numbers fell 36% final yr from 2022’s record complete, which led to Sunak claiming the authorities was starting to have success in “stopping the boats”, one in all his key priorities forward of an election anticipated later this yr.
But the newest enhance will add to strain on Sunak, whose Conservatives are effectively behind the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls with immigration a significant concern for some voters.
“Despite all the proof to the opposite, Rishi Sunak retains on telling the British those that small boat arrivals are coming down and his promise to cease the boats stays on observe,” stated Stephen Kinnock, Labour’s immigration spokesman.
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