Migrants arriving in UK since Rwanda deal top 80,000, data shows

The Home Office said 234 people made the journey in four boats on Tuesday

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover
Author: Flora Thompson and Ian Jones, PAPublished 5th Jun 2024

More than 80,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since the Government struck the Rwanda deal over two years ago.

The latest crossings also mean more than 125,000 migrants have made the journey in the last six-and-a-half years as the recent crisis began to unfold.

The tally since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister is edging closer to 50,000 and the number arriving since the General Election was called is nearing 1,000.

The agreement signed by then home secretary Priti Patel on April 14 2022 - which she described as a "world-first" - paved the way for migrants to be handed a one-way ticket to the east African nation if they were deemed to have arrived in the UK illegally.

But the plan has been beset with difficulties ever since and stalled amid a string of legal challenges.

Some 80,109 migrants have been recorded arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel between April 15 2022 and June 4 2024, according to PA news agency analysis of Government figures.

With immigration a key election campaign battleground, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who promised to "stop the boats" altogether, has consistently pointed to the Rwanda plan to achieve this, describing it as an "indispensable deterrent".

But he has admitted flights would not take off before the General Election, pledging that he would stick to the plan if re-elected.

The Home Office said 234 people made the journey in four boats on Tuesday. This suggests an average of 59 people per boat and takes the provisional total number of crossings for the year so far to 10,745.

This is up 41% on the number recorded this time last year (7,610) and 8% higher than the same point in 2022 (9,984), PA analysis of the data shows.

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