Which border control? The UK expects a record 65,000 boat migrants in 2023

Natalie Portman
By Natalie Portman 5 Min Read

A record number of around 65,000 boat migrants are expected to cross the English Channel and enter the UK in 2023, government officials said.

UK Home Office officials reportedly expect around 65,000 boat migrants to land on Britain’s shores this year, a report said on Monday.

This figure would represent an increase of more than 40% over last year absolute record of around 45,000 boat migrants, with 2023 already seeing hundreds of arrivals in Dover, located in the south of England.

According to A report Of TimesGovernment officials appear to have given up any pretense that the crisis will be under control this year, with even the most optimistic estimate for boat migrant arrivals in 2023 matching last year’s record high of around 45,000.

However, the paper says a median forecast of around 65,000 arrivals for this calendar year is believed to be more realistic by officials, with the worst-case scenario forecast going as high as 80,000 if both France and Britain are unable to control the people smuggler facilitated the crossings.

The Home Office has also reportedly confirmed it will bring on 100 more staff to work in Dover to process the tens of thousands of arrivals, with UK ministers and the Treasury apparently expected to approve the funding needed to the new hires.

Although British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak partially used his first speech of 2023 to to promise to “stop boats” used to smuggle migrants to Britain, Home Office statistics predicting that – even in the best-case scenario – Channel crossings will remain at a record high appear to contradict this claim.

Such predictions are not the only thing to indicate that the ongoing migrant crisis will continue, however, with Times also report hundreds more foreign arrivals as they land in Britain on Sunday.

Although, at the time of writing, the government has not yet officially confirmed the number of arrivals, the newspaper said it is believed to have more than doubled the figure of migrants who have crossed the canal so far in January.

However, Home Ministry officials insist they are proceeding with the implementation of measures to combat the crisis, with the government reportedly planning to empower the Home Minister allowing them to prevent foreigners to seek asylum in the UK if they arrive in the country illegally.

Sources within the government also say they are working to ensure that the Home Office, whose workforce has often been they hesitate to enforce UK borders – has a legal obligation to automatically remove illegal arrivals from Britain.

Whether such a scheme ever comes to fruition is another matter, however, with the Conservative Party government having so far failed to secure any meaningful border control measures since early last year.

For example, the UK has yet to be able to send migrants by boat to Rwanda despite initially announcing the scheme last spring, with attempts to see illegal arrivals being sent overseas repeatedly shipwrecked from legal challenges both in Britain and in European courts.

To make matters worse, of those arriving in the country, a significant number have ties to crime, with the likes of a serial pedophile and jihadist of the Islamic State be found among those using the illegal route to enter Britain.

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