The final crossings of the year occurred on Christmas Day, when 90 people travelled from France in two boats. Due to inclement weather, the Ministry of Defence recorded no further crossings for the remaining six days of 2022. The preliminary annual total for 2022 is a record high, up 60% from the 28,526 recorded for the entire year of 2021, but lower than the 60,000 that Home However, the figures exclude migrants who may arrive in the UK on larger vessels such as go-fast craft, yachts, motor cruisers, tugs, and fishing vessels, which the government believes are rarely used by irregular migrants at the moment. Over the last year, UK politicians have made a number of attempts to address the migrant crisis as pressure mounted amid a turbulent leadership transition. Suella Braverman, the current Home Secretary, has stated her determination to push for tougher legislation. Braverman described her “dream” of seeing the Government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda succeed after being appointed Home Secretary – a policy that High Court judges ruled is legal but has been stalled by legal action so far. Since her predecessor, Priti Patel, signed the agreement in April, 40,460 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to bring in legislation in 2023 to make it “unambiguously clear that if you enter the UK illegally, you should not be able to remain here. Mr Sunak pledged, as part of a series of measures to reduce Channel crossings and address the backlog of asylum claims, that the government would no longer house asylum seekers in hotels, instead looking for space in empty holiday parks, former student halls, and surplus military sites. Ms Braverman confirmed that plans to house migrants on decommissioned cruise ships are being considered, while also revealing that £3.5 billion will be spent on the asylum system in 2022/23. She told MPs that hotels would account for £2.3 billion of the total bill. Former Prime Minister Theresa May warned earlier this week that efforts to reform modern slavery laws risk creating new loopholes that could be exploited after Ms Braverman claimed they are being “abused by people gaming the system” to stay in the UK when they would otherwise face deportation. Meanwhile, ministers are looking to reduce the number of people entering the country legally, with plans that could target foreign students, make it more difficult to bring spouses to the UK, and raise the minimum wage for companies employing skilled workers.
