More than 900 people arrive in small boats in a day

More than 900 people crossed the English Channel in small boats on Saturday – the highest daily total so far this year.

According to the Home Office, 973 migrants arrived in 17 boats, bringing the total number for the year to 26,612 people in 503 boats.

The crossings came the same day French authorities said four people, including a two-year-old boy, had died while trying to cross the Channel to reach the UK.

The Home Office has said previously it was making progress in its bid to end dangerous small boat crossings, “which threaten lives and undermine our border security”.

The previous highest daily total of arrivals in 2024 was 882 people on 18 June.

While there were no recorded crossings in the first three days of October, on Friday, 395 migrants arrived in the UK after making the journey.

The total number of arrivals in 2024 so far is now higher than at the same point last year, when 25,330 migrants had reached the UK.

But it is still far lower than at the same point in the year in 2022, when 33,586 people had made the crossing.

On Saturday, French authorities said the four people who died while attempting to cross the Channel were likely “trampled to death” in two separate boats that had engine failures.

French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said the deaths were a “terrible tragedy”, adding that people smugglers “have the blood of these people on their hands”.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the deaths were “appalling”, and that “criminal smuggler gangs continue to organise these dangerous boat crossings”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously said he was “absolutely determined” to tackle the smuggling gangs facilitating the crossings but would not commit to a timeframe for doing that.