By Over 350 migrants found crossing the channel over two days
The Border Force and RNLI have currently brought more than 100 migrants ashore from the English Channel on Monday, witnesses reported seeing.
The Ministry of Defence said it found seven boats carrying 254 migrants on Sunday, official figures for the Monday to be published on Tuesday.
The government is “cracking down on people smugglers”, according to the MoD.
It is believed to be the first time there have been crossings in 11 days, with some suggesting had suggested the Rwanda asylum seeker scheme was already acting as a deterrent.
The aid charity and campaign group Care4Calais, said it had surveyed 60 of them over the Rwanda plans, and claimed 75% of those waiting to try to cross to England would not be deterred by it.
The group said several were sceptical of the Rwanda plan ever being put into place.
Last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the MoD had taken command of the operational response to small boats crossings.
The MoD described the rise in “dangerous” crossings as unacceptable.
A spokesperson said: “Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes.”
According to reports, more than 6,000 people have attempted crossing so far this year.
The latest Home Office figures suggest 28,526 people made the crossing in 2021.
Pierre Henri Dumont, the French national assembly member for Calais, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme he did not believe the UK government’s Rwanda programme would deter refugees from crossing the Channel.
He said: “You leave your country because of war, because of starvation. You are not afraid of being held and sent back to another country. At least if you have a chance, you will try.
“Right now, even if this decision [from the UK government] will look backwards, that’s something the migrants do not know. They hear the news and the smugglers are disturbing and transforming reality for them to make more money.”
