In November, a group believed to be migrants was brought to Dungeness, Kent.
Home Secretary James Cleverly recently celebrated the UK experiencing its first Christmas without any small boat arrivals since 2018. Home Office data reveals that there were no Channel crossings on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or Boxing Day, marking 10 consecutive days without recorded arrivals.
The latest recorded journey was on December 16, involving a single boat carrying 55 people across the English Channel from France.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Cleverly seemed to claim credit, stating, “There were no small boat arrivals over Christmas for the first time since they started in 2018. Last night, our Border Force officers and their French partners worked together to stop a boat launching on the beaches. They’ve played a crucial role in cutting crossings by 35%.”
However, it’s important to note that Storm Gerrit battered the UK during the festive period, with the Met Office issuing yellow weather warnings. Winds of up to 70mph and heavy rain affected Kent on Wednesday.
Christmas is traditionally a quiet time for small boat crossings, and the data shows fluctuations over the years. While 90 arrivals were recorded on Christmas Day in 2022, there were none on December 24 or 26. The year before, there were 67 arrivals on Christmas Day, with none on the adjacent days. In 2020 and 2019, no arrivals were recorded on December 24 or 25, but boats arrived again on Boxing Day.
In 2018, the first year of recorded data, there were no arrivals on Christmas Eve, 45 on Christmas Day, and three on Boxing Day.
Despite the fluctuations, the number of crossings is lower compared to last year, with a provisional total of 29,437 for 2023, down from the record level of 45,774 in the previous year.
Stopping small boat crossings was one of Rishi Sunak’s goals for the year, but he faced questions about meeting this promise during a recent Commons Liaison Committee meeting, acknowledging the absence of a “firm date.”
Sunak also pledged to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, but no individuals have been flown there yet. The Supreme Court ruled the plan illegal in November, citing the “real risk” of violating international law by sending asylum seekers back to their countries of origin.
