A record number of migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats this year with more than 8,000 arriving in the UK in the first four months of 2025.
It comes as Home Office figures show that 11 boats, containing 656 people, made the journey on Saturday alone - the highest number in a single day in 2025.
There have been 8,064 arrivals so far this year, according to provisional Government data.
This is 46% higher than at the same point last year when 5,517 people had made the crossing. It is also 65% higher than at this stage in 2023.
Fifty people were rescued at sea from various boats where some migrants asked for help on Saturday, the French coastguard confirmed.
Some 28 passengers were taken to Calais from a boat that got into difficulty, and 19 others were rescued from another vessel while the rest onboard continued their journey.
Three people from another boat were taken to the quayside in Boulogne-sur-Mer, while others on board refused assistance and continued on their way to the UK, the coastguard said.
Data suggests there are more Eritreans making the crossing this year than any other nationality. They account for around a fifth of migrants arriving - nearly triple the rate of last year.
The Government has vowed to crack down on people smuggling and the gangs that facilitate migrant journeys across the English Channel.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
"The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
"That's why this Government has put forward a serious, credible plan to finally restore order to our asylum system, including tougher enforcement powers, ramping up returns to their highest levels for more than half a decade and a major crackdown on illegal working to end the false promise of jobs used by gangs to sell spaces on boats."
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "This is a national disgrace. Labour clearly never had a plan to stop small boat crossings. Keir Starmer's pledge to smash the gangs lies in tatters, he's betrayed Britain and lost control of our borders. The gangs are laughing, the boats keep coming, and taxpayers are left to foot the bill.
"We've been failed by a weak Prime Minister more focused on pleasing his human rights lawyer friends than protecting our borders. These crossings are not only illegal, they are unnecessary, as France is a safe country."
