People traffickers continued to try to smuggle migrants across the Channel today as it is revealed 451 made the journey on Christmas Day.
Smugglers have been taking advantage of calmer waters for the first time in two weeks to load people onto inflatables headed for the UK.
This morning Border Force vessels intercepted more small boats trying to cross the English Channel and brought the occupants to Dover's immigration centre.
Meanwhile, official Home Office figures indicated that 451 migrants arrived on December 25 on 11 boats.
One dinghy even tried to make a longer voyage heading northwards off the beaches near Dunkirk before attempting to turn towards the Kent coast despite murky conditions.
It was intercepted by British and French rescue boats with the migrants brought back to the immigration processing centre at Dover's Western Docks.
A further 107 people were rescued by the French authorities after their boats got into difficulties trying to make the crossing off the French coast.
The last time vessels carrying migrants were known to have arrived was on December 14, when 160 people arrived in three boats.
BOXING DAY: A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, on a Border Force vessel from a small boat
CHRISTMAS DAY:A group of migrants are seen attempting to cross the Channel yesterday
BOXING DAY: A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, on a Border Force vessel
Yesterday's figures take the total number of crossings in 2024 to 35,491, around 21 per cent higher than last year, but about 22 per cent down on 2022.
More than 60 people are also known to have died in the deadliest year on record.
The last time there were crossings on Christmas Day was 2022 when 90 people arrived. There were 67 the year before in 2021.
Sir Keir Starmer has made 'smashing the gangs' who facilitate small boat crossings one of his top priorities since coming to power.
The Prime Minister has set up a new Border Security Command, and is attempting to work more closely with the UK's European neighbours to pull apart organised crime gangs involved in people smuggling.
Earlier in December, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the Government has a moral responsibility to tackle the small boats crisis, however she has declined to put a date on when the number of people crossing the Channel may drop.
Speaking on a visit to Italy, Ms Cooper said there was a principled reason to try to tackle boat crossings, as well as due to the impact on British services.
'We have a responsibility, a moral responsibility to go after those gangs who are putting lives at risk,' she said.
BOXING DAY: This morning Border Force vessels intercepted more small boats trying to cross the English Channel
CHRISTMAS DAY: BF Volunteer approaches a migrant craft in the Channel early this morning
'When you see these flimsy boats, the way that it's women and kids who get put in the middle of the boats, so when the boat folds, they are the people who get crushed, who end up drowning.'
Speaking days later to the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, Ms Cooper said she wanted to see crossings fall sharply but did not set a deadline of when the target would be met.
'There is a history of home secretaries and prime ministers making grand promises but never actually having a proper plan,' she said.
'The approach we are taking to this is really step by step, we are putting in place the things that we need, the agreements with other countries, the stronger returns arrangements, the much stronger law enforcement, the operations with Germany to go after the smugglers' supply chains, the operations with Italy to go after the illicit finance.'
The Home Secretary also pushed back on claims that migration has fallen down the Government's list of priorities.
She said: 'We have made clear border security… is one of the foundations. We have made it clear we need to reduce both legal migration and illegal migration, it is a clear priority for the government in terms of tackling these dangerous boat crossings.'
A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
'The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.'
