Tuesday (June 18) marked the highest single-day figure for migrant crossings to the UK so far this year. According to Home Office data, 882 migrants made the crossing in 15 small boats. The arrivals come after a few days pause. Previously, 105 migrants arrived in two boats on June 13.

There were no recorded arrivals on June 19, according to the latest data published by the Home Office.

The new figure tops the previous 2024 record by more than 100 people. November 29, 2022 was the last time more people arrived in a single day, reported the broadcaster Sky News, noting that 947 people crossed the Channel on that day from France to Britain.

In fact, more than 12,000 migrants have crossed the Channel since the start of the year. This is 18 percent higher than the total during the same period in 2023, reported Sky.

General Election looms

Britain is now two weeks away from a General Election, in which the ruling Conservative party is lagging behind in the polls. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made stopping the small boats crossing the Channel one of five main pledges during his term in office, a promise he has failed to maintain.

Since he took office in October 2022, almost 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this way, about a third of the total who have made the crossing in the last six and a half years. Almost two-thirds of all those who have crossed during that period did so after April 2022, when the Conservative government first signed its Rwanda deal.

The deal was designed to act as a deterrent to migrant crossings and proposed to fly those who sought asylum in the UK but arrived without papers to Rwanda to have their claims processed there. So far, despite enacting ever stricter migration laws, which declare crossing the Channel without papers to be illegal, the government has failed to fly anyone to Rwanda under the terms of its new deal.

Also read: Why immigration is a major issue in the UK election

Rwanda flights not due to take off until late July

The government has now declared that the first flights are due to start on July 24, after the election. However, the opposition Labour party, which is polling well ahead of the Conservative party, has declared it would end the Rwanda deal if elected. They have branded the Rwanda policy a "sham" and a "waste of money."

According to a study by independent charity in the UK IPPR (the Institute for Public Policy Research) released in March this year, the total costs of the Rwanda deal have so far amounted to almost half a billion pounds, even before anyone has actually been flown there.

In the study, the IPPR revealed that even if flights were to start as the government has promised, the costs for an initial cohort of 20,000 migrants could amount to 3.9 billion pounds (around 4.6 billion euros).

Also read: UK migration policy under fire in the courts

Afghans form largest group crossing Channel

In the year from March 2023 to March 2024, Afghans were the largest single nationality to cross the Channel. According to the BBC, Afghan nationals made up just under a fifth of all total crossings. They were followed by Iranians (making up 12 percent) and Turkish nationals (making up 11 percent).

The majority of those crossing the Channel are male, and nearly a fifth of those crossing are between 25 and 39 years of age, reported the BBC.

Between 2018 and 2023, according to the UN Migration Agency IOM, at least 159 migrants have died while attempting to cross this stretch of water.

Authorities on both sides of the Channel continually issue warnings about how dangerous a route it can be. The Channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with fast changing weather patterns. On most days, wind speeds can be high and storms and high waves are not infrequent. In winter, the water temperatures can fall so low that even a healthy person can only survive a few minutes before being affected by the cold and the currents.

With Reuters, dpa and AFP