Labour: Small boat arrivals in 2024: the record start to a year in numbers

As the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats continues to set new records up to the end of April 2024, Labour has broken down the key figures behind the worst start to a year since the crisis started in 2018:

268: The number of people who crossed the Channel on small boats yesterday (on Tuesday 30 April), according to the official Home Office figures, almost as many in a single day as Rwanda have agreed to accept in an entire year.

1,302: The number of people who have arrived since Rishi Sunak made his latest pledge to stop the boats, at his Downing Street press conference on 22 April.

7,567: The total for 2024 so far, the highest ever recorded for the first four months of the year, up 27 per cent on last year (5,946), and 13 per cent on 2022 (6,691).

36,960: The number of arrivals since Rishi Sunak's original pledge to 'stop the boats' at his Downing Street press conference on 4 January 2023.

44,630: The total number who have crossed the Channel since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister on 25 October 2022, arriving at an average rate of 565 per week.

78,142: The number of arrivals since Priti Patel announced the deal with Rwanda on 13 April 2022, 260 times more than Rwanda will accept each year under the agreement.

121,889: The total number of arrivals since the small boat crossings began in 2018, 36.6 per cent of which have taken place on Rishi Sunak's watch as Prime Minister.

1,505: The number of people rescued by the French authorities in 2024 and taken back to the French coast after getting into difficulty early in their journey, more than three-quarters up on the same point last year (852), and 29 per cent higher than 2022 (1,162).

9,072: The total number of people rescued on either side of the Channel after attempting to cross in 2024, up by a third on last year (6,798), and up 15.5 per cent on 2022 (7,853)

48.5: The average number of people crowded onto each dinghy that has crossed the Channel so far in 2024, up from almost 42 per dinghy over the same period in 2023, and 32.5 in 2022.

14: Most important and tragic of all, at least fourteen people have died so far this year while attempting to cross the Channel, including two seven year-old girls.

Stephen Kinnock MP, Labour's Shadow Immigration Minister, said:

"The Rwanda scheme is a costly con. The Tories know it is costing a fortune and unworkable as it's on such a small-scale. That's why they are now paying people to go to Rwanda instead. Whatever Rishi Sunak says, the criminal smuggling gangs will see through a gimmick which only covers 1% of arrivals and continue plying their deadly and lucrative trade.

“Only Labour will deliver the change Britain needs. On small boats, that means strengthening our border security, crushing the smuggling gangs, clearing the asylum backlog, ending hotel use, and setting up a new returns and enforcement unit so those with no right to be in the UK are swiftly returned to their home country.”

Ends

Notes:

Small boat arrival figures are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migrants-detected-crossing-the-english-channel-in-small-boats
 
Figures for rescues on the French side are here: https://www.premar-manche.gouv.fr/
 
Labour's five-point plan to reform the asylum system:
 
1. Crackdown on criminal smuggler gangs, through new Cross-Border Police Unit and deeper security cooperation with Europe
 
A Labour Government would crackdown on criminal smuggler gangs by introducing stronger powers for the UK's National Crime Agency to restrict the movement of those suspected of being involved in people smuggling and setting up a new cross-border police unit with officers based in the UK and across Europe to tackle gangs upstream.
 
That would include officers being posted directly to Europol to collaborate on joint investigations and to identify and seize boats upstream. Labour will also seek to negotiate a new security agreement with Europe, including a replacement to SIS-II, to allow for the real-time sharing of intelligence on people smuggling suspects. To fund this, Labour would redirect spending from the unworkable Rwanda scheme, which the government has admitted is subject to a very high risk of fraud.
 
2. End hotel use, clear the Tory asylum backlog, and speed up returns to safe countries
 
Labour will save the taxpayer billions by ending the use of hotels for asylum seekers within 12 months and setting up a new returns unit for safe countries. Labour will recruit over 1,000 Home Office caseworkers to clear the record Tory asylum backlog, and a further 1,000 staff for a new returns unit so that those who do not have a right to stay here can be quickly removed, and we end the use of costly hotels at the taxpayers' expense. Labour will fast track decisions on applications from safe countries, like India and Albania, which are unlikely to be granted; and establish a new returns unit to reverse the 44% collapse in asylum removals that the Tory Government has overseen since 2010.
 
3. Reform resettlement routes to stop people being exploited by gangs
 
Labour would redesign the existing resettlement schemes which are not currently working properly so that they include a clearer process for refugees with family connections in the UK to be considered for resettlement, preventing them being exploited by criminal gangs or making dangerous journeys.
 
4. New agreement with France and other countries on returns and family reunion
 
Labour would negotiate a new agreement which includes safe returns and safe family reunions for child refugees.
 
5. Tackle humanitarian crises at source helping refugees in their region
 
Labour would work in partnership internationally to address some of the humanitarian crises that are leading people to flee their homes including restoring the 0.7% aid commitment when the fiscal situation allows and strengthening support for the people of Afghanistan, currently the largest group trying to cross the Channel.