Number of small boat migrant crossings poised to hit eye-watering 200,000 total since crisis began – despite hundreds of millions of pounds sent to French to stop it

The total number of migrants arriving in Britain since the start of the canal crisis is expected to exceed 200,000.

According to forecasts, the grim milestone was scheduled to be passed on Monday after more than 400 arrivals on Sunday brought the ongoing tally to 199,828.

Official data published by the Home Office showed large numbers of small boat migrants have arrived in the UK since the first recorded crossing on 31 January 2018.

200,000 immigrants are equivalent to the population of a city the size of Norwich.

On Sunday, 422 people arrived in six boats that were stopped in the middle of the English Channel by the UK Border Force and brought to Dover.

This comes after 325 crossings were witnessed on Saturday and 55 on Friday.

The UK Border Force catamaran Defender was operating in the Channel on Monday, disembarking a number of migrants in addition to the confirmed total.

Official totals for Monday will not be published until later, but the total is likely to exceed the 200,000 mark if more crossings occur at high tide as expected.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Transitions have increased by 45 per cent since the election and Labor has no control over our borders.

‘This is complete chaos and tens of thousands of young, male illegal immigrants are pouring into the country every year.

‘Some then go on to commit murder, rape and sexual assault.

‘Illegal immigration out of control is creating a crime crisis.’

He added: ‘There is only one solution: We need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, which allows us to deport every illegal immigrant within a week of their arrival. Then the transitions will soon stop.

‘This is the Conservatives’ plan but Labor is too weak to do it.’

One of Labor’s first acts upon coming to power was to cancel the Rwanda asylum agreement, which the previous government had designed to deter crossings and save lives.

Two migrants, a 16-year-old girl and a woman in her 20s, died while trying to cross the English Channel on an overcrowded boat on Sunday. Their engine caught fire and it is feared they were crushed to death amid the ensuing panic.

The International Organization for Migration estimates the total number of deaths linked to Canal crossings since 2018 at 288, including 148 drownings.

Last month Labor confirmed British taxpayers would give the French £660 million for small boat patrols, taking the total paid out since the start of the crisis to more than £1.3 billion.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has agreed to give Emmanuel Macron’s government a £500 million ‘core package’ spread over the next three years to continue funding anti-immigrant operations by French police.

A further £160 million will also be transferred to fund the French’s new tactics, including stopping boats once they enter the water.

A three-year, £500m deal was previously agreed by then Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in 2023, with more than 84,000 migrants arriving in Britain over the life of the deal.

This was part of £658 million in security payments given to France since 2018, according to a report by the House of Commons Library.

Last year, 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK; this was the second highest annual total since the start of the crisis.

More immigrants arrived during Sir Keir Starmer’s term as Prime Minister than any other Prime Minister, with 71,932 people.

Sir Keir surpassed the previous high of 65,800 under Boris Johnson in February this year.

Under Labor plans designed to tackle the crisis, Ms Mahmood also signed up to a scheme to provide unsuccessful asylum seeker families with up to £40,000 to voluntarily return home.

They can agree to £10,000 plus flights home, up to a maximum of £40,000 per person.

However, Ms Mahmood refused to reveal how many families accepted the offer and He was accused by the Conservatives of maintaining ‘shocking secrecy’ about the programme.

For any asylum seeker to refuse an offer of cash would be a devastating indictment of Britain’s broken asylum system.

This would signal that immigrants have calculated that they would be better off staying here indefinitely at taxpayers’ expense.

This would also open the possibility of Ms Mahmood increasing the cash offer to a much higher level in a bid to persuade the families to leave.

Officials have said they will consider increasing the financial incentive ‘depending on gains’ once the program is launched.

Most asylum seeker families offered cash assistance live in immigration hotels at an average cost of £158,000 per family per year.

The program was launched on March 5, and the deadline for accepting the offer ended on March 12; Ms Mahmood argued cash payments would save money in the long run.

Another Labor plan – a ‘one in, one out’ deal with the French government – ​​saw the number of immigrants brought into the UK under the reciprocal terms of the deal outnumber those removed.

At the end of 2018, then home secretary Sajid Javid declared a ‘national emergency’ as migrant crossings began to occur more frequently, although fewer than 300 people arrived by the end of the year.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘This Government is cracking down on small boat crossings.

‘The Home Secretary has signed a groundbreaking new deal with France to step up enforcement on beaches and put people smugglers behind bars.

‘This builds on joint work that has stopped more than 42,000 illegal immigrants trying to cross the Channel since the election.

‘We have removed or deported nearly 60,000 people who were here illegally, and we are going further to eliminate the incentives that attract illegal immigrants to this country.’