Ninety people cross Channel on two small boats on Christmas Day before being taken to Dover processing centre

26 December 2022, 13:10

Ninety migrants crossed the English Channel in two small boats on Christmas Day, the Ministry of Defence said.

They are now being housed in the Home Office's Western Jet Foil processing centre in Dover.

More than 45,000 people have now crossed the Channel this year.

In 2021, 28,500 made the dangerous journey from northern France to England.

Earlier this month four people died and 39 were injured when an inflatable boat capsized in the Channel.

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More than 43 were rescued from the stricken craft after the UK coast guard, the French Navy and an air ambulance raced to the site in the middle of the Channel.

Home secretary Suella Braverman told the Commons that the tragedy highlighted the urgent need to "break the stranglehold of the criminal gangs who trade in human misery" by ferrying people to Dover in overcrowded dinghies.

The government has since announced 700 new staff to monitor the arrival of small boats across the waterway.

It recently won a key legal challenge against its plan to send undocumented immigrants to Rwanda for processing.

A new agreement with Albania will also see Border Force officials posted in the country.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Nobody should put their lives at risk by taking dangerous and illegal journeys.

"We will go further to tackle the gangs driving this, using every tool at our disposal to deter illegal migration and disrupt the business model of people smugglers."

This caller calls Channel crossings an 'attack on the nation state'