No 10 declares ‘migration emergency’ after record day for crossings in 2024

Rishi Sunak’s Government is dealing with a “migration emergency” after the busiest day for Channel crossings since the start of 2024.

More than 4,000 people are thought to have crossed the English Channel so far this year, according to Home Office figures, with 514 people making the journey in 10 boats on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Government’s Rwanda Bill remains stuck in parliamentary limbo, with MPs not scheduled to debate it again until after Westminster returns from its Easter break.

(PA Graphics)

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The legislation is dealing with a migration emergency and we are introducing that legislation as soon as we possibly can to reduce the number of people taking the perilous journey across the Channel.”

He added that it was “frustrating” that the House of Lords had not passed the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill on Wednesday night, making changes to the legislation that mean it has to go back to the Commons for consideration.

He said: “It is exactly because we are still seeing people making this perilous journey across the Channel, including people in the last few days, that the PM wants parliamentarians across the House to get behind this Bill and to stop the boats.”

The running total for Channel crossings in 2024 to 4,043 – 10% higher than this time last year (3,683). It is also 25% higher than the total at this stage in 2022 when there were 3,229 arrivals recorded, PA news agency analysis of the data indicates.

The Home Office has stressed that the latest data is provisional, suggesting the numbers could later be revised.

Meanwhile, a migrant was taken to hospital when he arrived in Dover, Kent, after crossing the Channel, having told police he was stabbed on a French beach before making the journey on Wednesday.

Border Force officers investigated small boats used by people thought to be migrants on the quayside in Dover, Kent, on Thursday (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Channel crossings continued on Thursday.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We continue to work closely with French police who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.

“We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats.”

But Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “The latest numbers show no sign that the high-profile Rwanda plan is having a deterrent effect.

“What they show is refugees fleeing violence and conflict are making desperate and dangerous journeys across the channel to seek sanctuary on our shores because there are no safe routes. Instead of slamming our door in the face of men, women and children, we should be giving them a fair hearing and treating them with the dignity and humanity they deserve.”

The House of Lords backed a series of fresh changes to the Rwanda Bill on Wednesday night after their previous amendments had been overturned by MPs.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was among peers who voted to amend the Government’s proposed Rwanda laws (Yui Mok/PA)

Despite both Houses sitting for at least part of next week, the Government has not scheduled the timing for the Bill’s return to the Commons until April 15.

In the wake of the Government’s defeat in the Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury said there was “no evidence” to support claims the Church of England was “subverting the asylum system” by allowing spurious conversions to Christianity.

The Church has been accused in recent months of allowing “industrial-scale” baptisms of migrants to assist with their asylum claims, allowing them to suggest they would be persecuted in their home country because they were now Christians.

But speaking on Times Radio on Thursday, the Most Reverend Justin Welby said he had seen “no evidence” of this occurring, only “assertions”.

He added: “We wrote to the Home Office and they said they had no evidence to show us.”

The accusations followed claims by former Anglican vicar Matthew Firth, who told The Daily Telegraph he had “put a stop to the conveyor belt and veritable industry of asylum baptisms that was going on”.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party was committed to stopping small boats crossing the Channel (Ian West/PA)

Noting that in the last 10 years there had been 15 baptisms in Mr Firth’s parish of people who may have been asylum seekers, the Archbishop said: “If that’s industrial-scale, we have got a small idea of industrial production.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party was committed to stopping small boats crossing the Channel.

He told Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine: “There’s no ifs or buts. It’s a massive problem and… it gives this sense of having lost control of our borders.”

But he said the Rwanda scheme was a “gimmick that won’t work.”

He said it was “not impossible” to take down the people-smuggling gangs, highlighting his plan to work with international law enforcement agencies on the issue.

“We’ve got to stop these boats, stop people getting here in the first place, and that means taking down the gangs that are running this vile trade,” he said.

In 2023, some 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK after making the journey, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.