Afghans overtake Albanians as largest group of Channel migrants - and could be sent to Rwanda

Home Office claims there is ‘no need’ for Afghans to use small boats, but only 22 brought to UK under flagship scheme

Thousands of Afghan nationals were evacuated by the British military amid the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, but a tiny portion of those left behind have been resettled (LPhot Ben Shread/MoD/Crown Copyright/PA)

(PA Media)

Afghans are now the largest nationality of small boat migrants, official figures show, as just 22 people were resettled through an official UK scheme.

Numbers have overtaken Albanians in recent months, and the government says it will send Afghans to Rwanda if it decides that passing through France makes them “inadmissible” for asylum in the UK.

The Home Office claimed there was “no need” for them to use small boats and said refugees should “claim asylum in the first safe country they reach”.