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How many people cross the Channel in small boats and how many apply for asylum in Britain?

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Image source, Getty Images

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeatedly said that “stopping the boats” coming to Britain is a top priority.

After months of legal and political wrangling, the British parliament has passed the flagship Rwanda bill, which it says will discourage ‘illegal’ small boat crossings.

How many people cross the Channel in small boats?

That is almost a quarter more than in the same period last year.

That was a big drop from the 2022 total of 45,755, the highest number since figures were collected in 2018.

Since 2018, almost 120,000 people have come to Britain via this route.

Who crosses the Channel in small boats?

In the first quarter of 2024, two-fifths of those arriving by small boats were from Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Iranians (13%) and Turkish citizens (11%) were the next two most common nationalities to end up this way.

How many people are seeking asylum in Britain?

In all of 2022, almost 100,000 people applied for asylum. About 45% of that came from small boat arrivals.

The number of annual asylum applications – including dependents – peaked at about 103,000 in 2002, as people fled conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.

The number of claims then fell sharply, falling to a 20-year low of 22,600 in 2010.

However, numbers rose again during the 2010s as refugees fled Syria.

Where do asylum seekers come from?

In 2023, the largest number of asylum seekers came from Afghanistan (9,307).

The next largest group, with about 7,400 people, came from Iran, followed by Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

In 2022, Albanians were the top nationality, with more than 17,300 people (including family members) applying for asylum. Most of these (73%) arrived by small boats.

Ukrainian refugees who came to Britain after the Russian invasion of their country are not included in the figures.

There are separate arrangements for some other specific groups to come to Britain, such as Afghan refugees and some Hong Kong citizens.

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