Migrant crossings top 1,000 in a day for second time this year

The latest crossings mean the total number for 2022 to date could soon exceed the tally for the whole of last year.

More than 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK on Sunday (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

More than 1,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK in a single day for the second time in a fortnight.

The latest crossings mean the total number for 2022 to date could soon exceed the tally for the whole of last year.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures show 1,160 people were detected on Sunday in 25 boats, suggesting an average of around 46 people per boat.

This is the second time this year the daily total has topped 1,000, after August 22 saw a record 1,295 people intercepted in 27 boats.

Migrant crossings continued on Monday as more people arrived in Dover, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

There was also one boat which made it to the coast unaccompanied in an “uncontrolled landing” at Folkestone’s west beach on Sunday morning, the MoD said.

Video footage circulating online appeared to show a boat full of people landing on the south coast before some of the group started to run up the beach.

This is the second time this year such an incident has been recorded, with the first reported on June 2.

Some 2,341 people have made the journey in September so far in three days. It comes after August had the highest monthly total on record for crossings, with 8,644 people making the journey on 189 boats.

According to the provisional government figures, 221 crossed in five boats on Friday, followed by 960 in 20 boats on Saturday.

The crossings continued on Monday morning, with a group of young boys among those seen arriving in Dover, Kent.

More than 27,300 people have crossed the Channel from France to the UK in small boats, such as dinghies, so far in 2022. This is just over 1,000 short of the number of arrivals for the whole of last year (28,526).

A group of people, thought to be migrants, are brought in to Dover, Kent, on board a Border Force vessel on Sunday (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

The latest crossings come as a High Court challenge against the Government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda begins.

Several asylum seekers, along with the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and groups Care4Calais and Detention Action are questioning the legality of the plan.

In April, Home Secretary Priti 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, 22,116 people have crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats.