MORE migrants were stopped from crossing the Channel than arrived on Sunday in a boost for Rishi Sunak’s pledge to stop the boats.
Almost 1,000 people were stopped from entering Britain last week, figures show.
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For the first time, the Home Office has released data for what it calls preventions as well as for arrivals.
On Sunday, while 54 migrants crossed the Channel, 218 were stopped from leaving France or returned there.
The figures show the size of the challenge faced by UK Border Force and French authorities tackling the people smugglers launching overcrowded boats.
Official figures show that in the last seven days 977 people were stopped from making the dangerous journey.
The Home Office said the new statistics were “estimates based on an operational snapshot collected by French authorities”.
Small boat arrivals are up about 25 per cent for the start of the year compared with the same period in 2023.
Earlier in the week, 711 people had made the dangerous journey in one day — the highest so far for 2024.
An estimated 8,587 have arrived this year.
Last year saw a total of 29,437, down from the 45,746 in 2022.
The Home Office said: “The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible.
“We continue to work closely with French police who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.
“Last year they stopped 26,000 people from reaching our shores.
“We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners.”
But Stephen Kinnock, Labour’s Shadow Immigration Minister, said: “The Tories chose gimmicks over grip.
“That choice has landed taxpayers with an almost £8million asylum hotel bill every single day. And they have no plan to cut that eye-watering cost.
“This Conservative con can’t go on. It’s time for Rishi Sunak to adopt Labour’s plan to smash the criminal smuggling gangs. That will focus on stopping boats before they reach the beach in France.”
Immigration enforcement officers will carry out more raids this week.
They have so far detained more than 100 asylum seekers — set to be in the first cohort of those sent to Rwanda.
Others were held when they turned up for routine immigration meetings.
Some are believed to be at Colnbrook removal centre at Heathrow, while others have been taken to Brook House at Gatwick and Yarl’s Wood, Bedfordshire.
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They can apply for immigration bail before the flights take off in July.
Mr Sunak has said: “If people come to our country illegally but know they won’t be able to stay, then they are much less likely to come. That’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”
