More than 200 people cross Channel to Dover in small boats after 11 day hiatus, reports claim

Government spokesperson calls crossings ‘overt abuse of our immigration law’

Border Force and the military bring migrants ashore on Sunday (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

More than 200 people have travelled across the Channel to Dover in small boats following a stated 11-day pause in crossings, reports suggest.

Witnesses saw large groups of people being brought ashore by UK Border Force officials on Sunday.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is understood to be aware of a number of events still ongoing in the Channel. It would not, however, comment on specific numbers of people arriving.

The MoD took over control of migrant operations in April, when the government also announced controversial plans to send some of those making the cross-Channel journey to Rwanda.

There is believed to have been a 11-day break in activity around the Channel from 20-30 April, when no crossings were recorded during reports of strong winds and choppy seas.

Two longer gaps of 16 and 13 days without crossings were recorded earlier this year, before the Rwanda deal was announced.

The MoD publishes data on the daily number of detected border crossings retrospectively, so Sunday’s official figures will be confirmed on Monday.

A government spokesperson said: “The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable. Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes.”

The government’s Nationality and Borders Bill – dubbed the anti-refugee bill by campaigners as it makes it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and includes powers to process asylum seekers overseas – became law on Thursday.

Earlier in April, Priti Patel, the home secretary, signed what she described as a “world-first” agreement with Rwanda.

The deal will see the east African nation receive asylum seekers deemed by the UK to be inadmissible, having arrived “illegally” under new immigration rules, but it has been met with criticism and is already facing legal challenges.

Since the start of the year, at least 6,693 people have reached the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats, according to data compiled by PA.

That is more than three times the amount recorded this time last year (2,004) and over six times the figure for the same period in 2020 (1,006).

Typically there can be periods of several days or weeks without migrant crossings throughout the year, often depending on weather conditions.

The longest period without any crossings so far in 2022 was 16 days, between 27 January and 11 February, PA analysis of government figures shows.