More than 4,600 asylum seekers have arrived in the UK in small boats so far in 2024, a record total for the first three months of the year and giving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak a new political headache.
Provisional Home Office data showed on Wednesday (27) that as of the previous day, March 26, 4,644 people were detected arriving across the English Channel in small boats, such as inflatable dinghies.
This compares with 3,770 for the same period last year and 4,162 for 2022, the previous record.
Sunak hopes his flagship scheme to deport to Rwanda those who arrive in the country without permission will stop people making the dangerous Channel crossings. Legislation aimed at putting this plan into effect after a series of legal setbacks is expected to return to parliament next month.
“The unacceptable number of people continuing to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda as soon as possible,” a government spokesperson said last week.
“We continue to work closely with French police who are facing a growing wave of violence and disruption on beaches, as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary trips.”
Total annual figures were down 36% last year from 2022's record total, prompting Sunak to claim the government was starting to have success in “stopping the boats”, one of his key priorities ahead of an election expected in this year.
But the latest rise will raise pressure on the British prime minister, whose Conservatives are well behind the opposition Labor Party in opinion polls, with immigration a major concern for some voters.
“Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Rishi Sunak continues to tell the British people that small boat arrivals are falling and his promise to stop the boats remains on track,” said Stephen Kinnock, a Labor Party spokesman.
Source: CNN Brasil
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