UK PAGE 2 BRIEFING: People crossing the English Channel in small boats Understanding the evidence Since 2018, there has been a sharp rise in the number of people arriving in the UK irregularly after crossing the English Channel in small boats. [...] Around 46,000 people were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats in 2022; in the first half of 2023, the number was around 11,500, a decline of 10% compared to the first half of 2022 The overall number of small boat arrivals has increased substantially in the last few years. [...] In the winter of 2022-3 the number of Albanians crossing in small boats dramatically declined (Figure 5), with only 28 making the crossing in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 235 the year before. [...] Available data provide no clear or single explanation for the rise in popularity of the small boat route In 2019, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration reported that Home Office officials believed that the emergence of the small boat route as an established method of entering the UK irregularly was a consequence of the work done by the UK and French in making other methods of. [...] The representative to the UK of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has argued that more stringent controls on road travel, and the coronavirus pandemic, have had the effect of closing off lorry and air routes to the UK, leading to more people using alternative means, including crossing the Channel in small boats.
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