More migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year than in the whole of 2023, Home Office figures show.

It comes after 424 people crossed the Channel yesterday, taking the 2024 total up to now to 29,578.

In 2023, a total of 29,437 migrants made the perilous crossing.

In 2022, 45,728 people crossed.

On Thursday, the French coastguard said it rescued 76 migrants in three boats after they got into difficulty while attempting the crossing. They were taken back to Calais but several others on two boats refused assistance.

Earlier this week, three people died and dozens of others were rescued when a boat sank while trying to reach the UK.

It has also been a week since a baby girl died in a similar incident. Maryam Bahez was thought to have been born on her family’s journey from Iraqi Kurdistan, as they travelled through Europe in the hope of making it to Britain.

She was just 40 days old when her family wrapped her in a bin bag to keep her dry and died after the dinghy sank just 100m into their journey. Her heartbroken dad says despite the horror they have been through, he will continue to try to get his wife and two surviving children into Britain.

The waters, known as the Dover Strait, are some of the most dangerous to try and cross with the narrowest part (the English Channel) the busiest shipping lane in the world.

Issuing a warning, the French Coastguard said more than 600 ships pass through it every day, with weather conditions extremely dangerous, even when the water seems calm.

After winning the election in July, new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a new UK Border Security Command, which aims to tackle organised immigration crime and disrupt trafficking networks across Europe.