This year’s channel migrants total hits 20,000

This year’s channel migrants total hits 20,000


Play all audios:


Some 300 people made the journey in five boats on Tuesday, suggesting around 60 people per vessel. This takes the provisional total for 2023 to 20,101, Home Office data shows. This is around


20% down on more than 25,000 this time last year. There have been 5,369 people detected so far this month, compared with 8,631 in August 2022. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:


“Rishi Sunak made this his top priority. He told us that his plan was working. “And yet these figures show that he’s completely failed to get a grip.” But Mr Sunak urged people to “have


confidence” in his plan as he claimed the lower number of Channel crossings compared to last year showed it was “working”. This summer has seen more unsettled weather compared with last year


when there was a spike in crossings in August. * The Belgian government will no longer offer shelter for single men seeking asylum, saying it wanted “to avoid children ending up in the


streets this winter”. Human rights organisation and aid groups criticised the move, which will prioritise families. Amnesty International said asylum-seekers had filled shelters almost to


the 33,500 capacity.