Channel migrant crossings hit new daily record for 2023

More than 800 migrants crossed English Channel on Saturday

Migrants rescued in the English Channel in August are brought onshore at Dungeness, Kent (PA)

More than 800 migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday, the highest number on a single day so far this year.

Some 872 people crossed on 15 small vessels, according to the latest provisional Government data.

This suggests an average of around 58 people per boat.

The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2023 now stands at a provisional total of 20,973.

The previous high for 2023 was when 756 people made crossings on August 10.

The total for the year so far is still lower than this time last year, when 25,000 people had already made the journey.

The record high for a single day since current records began in 2018 is still 1,295 on August 22 2022.

Saturday’s arrivals mean 1,172 people made the journey so far this week with crossings recorded on just two out of six days, after 300 migrants arrived on Tuesday.

Figures will be published on Monday for any crossings which took place on Sunday.

Total arrivals last year were 45,755.

It comes after the average number of migrants crossing the Channel per boat hit a new monthly high in August when some 5,369 people made the journey in 102 boats – an average of around 53 migrants per vessel.

This was the highest monthly average since records began in 2018, according to PA news agency analysis of provisional government data.

Reporting by Press Association