Children wrapped in blankets and wearing life jackets arrived on the south coast as the number of Channel crossings in 2022 so far edged closer to topping last year’s total.
Migrant crossings continued for a fifth day in a row on Tuesday, with women and young children among those seen being brought ashore in Dover, Kent, amid windy conditions at sea.
On Monday, 188 people arrived in five boats, after 1,160 made the journey in 25 boats on Sunday, marking the second time the daily total has topped 1,000 in a fortnight.
It comes after Priti Patel defended her record as Home Secretary hours before announcing her plan to resign from the role as soon as new Prime Minister Liz Truss appoints a successor, admitting in a letter to former PM Boris Johnson migrant crossings are “frustrating”.
Meanwhile, campaigners continue to challenge the Government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda.
Several asylum seekers, the Public and Commercial Services union and groups Care4Calais and Detention Action are questioning the legality of the plan in a case set to last all week in the High Court.
In April, Ms Patel signed what she described as a “world-first agreement” with Rwanda in a bid to deter migrants from crossing the Channel.
But the first deportation flight – due to take off on June 14 – was grounded amid a series of legal challenges.
Since the deal was announced, 22,304 people have crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats.
More than 27,500 people have crossed the Channel from France to the UK in small boats, such as dinghies, so far in 2022.
The total to date is just less than 1,000 short of the number of arrivals for the whole of last year (28,526).
So far in September, 2,529 people made the journey in four days alone, after August had the highest monthly total on record for crossing, with 8,644 people arriving in 189 boats.
