More migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK from northern France so far this year than in the whole of 2021, official government figures showed on Tuesday.
So far this year, 28,561 people have made the dangerous crossing across one of one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, according to provisional ministry of defense figures.
That compares to 28,526 for the whole of 2021.
The 2022 figure to date is nearly double the number that had been detected by this point last year, which was just under 14,500.
There have been 3,518 crossings recorded in September so far, analysis shows.
August 22 saw the highest daily total on record, with 1,295 people crossing in 27 boats in one day alone.
Irregular migration is a thorny political issue for the UK government, which promised to tighten borders after the country left the European Union.
It announced in April that it would remove some migrants whose asylum applications failed, sending them on a one-way ticket to Rwanda for resettlement.
Legal challenges prevented the deportation of the first batch of failed asylum-seekers in June but the government has said it is undeterred.
Some asylum-seekers, a union whose members would have to implement the removals and groups supporting migrants are now challenging the move.
More people are thought to have attempted the crossing in recent months because of more favorable summer weather conditions.
