Sunak says government is curbing uk migration (Image: Getty)
Defending the Government’s record, the Prime Minister claimed the UK is defying trends across Europe as fewer migrants cross to Britain. He pledged: “I am determined to end the burden of illegal migration on the British people.”
Writing for this newpaper, Mr Sunak went on: “Express readers, and the wider British public, are reasonable, generous, hardworking people – people who want to help the most vulnerable but also want to ensure we can support those already on our shores.
“But there is nothing reasonable or generous about allowing illegal migration. It risks lives, undermines our border security and places unacceptable pressures on our public services.
“We will ensure it is this Government, not people smuggling gangs, who decide who comes.
“The UK is defying trends across mainland Europe…by seeing small boat arrivals fall for the first time since this phenomenon began – with arrivals down 36% year-on-year. That progress is the result of relentless action to tackle illegal migration over the past year.”
Government records yesterday showed that the 29,437 arrivals last year were more than a third lower than the record 45,774 in 2022.
Mr Sunak, who is expected to call a General Election later this year, said: “The Conservatives are the party committed to stopping the boats.
“Keir Starmer’s only idea is to give back control of our borders to the European Union and let them send us 100,000 extra illegal migrants. That’s the exact opposite of what the British people want.
“As we go into 2024, we do so resolute on stopping people traffickers from costing lives…deterring opportunists from trying to take advantage of what our country has to offer, and determined to get [deportation] flights off the ground for Rwanda.”
The last detected arrivals of 2023 were on December 16 when a boat of 55 migrants crossed from France.
Amid bad weather, the Home Office did not record any further sailings for the final 15 days – the longest stretch without such arrivals of the entire year.
For the first time since records began in 2018, no crossings took place on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
Mr Sunak went on: “We have taken action to stop the boats, return hotels to their local communities and deter those wanting to come here illegally from doing so.”
The Immigration Services Union, which represents borders staff, warned that “higher numbers” of crossings are expected this year.
ISU professional officer Lucy Moreton said: “We have had particularly high winds, we have had a larger number of days where it is less likely that we are going to get migrants in boats.
Bibby Stockholme, where many migrants end up (Image: Getty)
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“But we have also had much larger boats, much more seaworthy boats, so the planning assumption is that this is a glitch.
“Border Force needs to continue to resource itself – and the country needs to continue to resource itself – to deal with higher numbers.”
Thousands of asylum cases are still awaiting a final decision despite the Government claiming that it has met a target to clear a backlog.
Mr Sunak had pledged to “abolish” some older applications by the end of 2023, tasking the Home Office with tackling the total of such “legacy” claims. The Home Office said the PM’s commitment to clear the legacy backlog has been delivered and it had processed more than 112,000 cases overall in 2023.
Mr Sunak said the Government was saving taxpayers “millions of pounds” in costs for accommodating arrivals in hotels and reducing strain on public services.
Labour accused the Government of making false claims about meeting its aim, with figures suggesting the department had fallen short of the initial target. The Home Office said all legacy backlog cases had been reviewed, with 86,800 decisions made, but 4,500 “complex cases” needed more checks.
It said such cases typically involve “asylum seekers presenting as children – where age verification is taking place; those with serious medical issues or those with suspected past convictions, where checks may reveal criminality that would bar asylum”.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said yesterday: “While illegal entries across Europe are going up, the number of people coming into the UK illegally is going down. This is a significant achievement, but the job is far from over.
“I will continue to do everything possible to stop the boats. No people smuggler will be safe, we will work with law enforcement partners and governments across the world who want to tackle this threat and ensure that British taxpayer money is not wasted on people trying to abuse our generosity.”
The number of migrants crossing the Channel has steadily increased since 299 people were detected in 2018. There were 1,843 crossings the next year and 8,466 in 2020, according to the Home Office.
Mr Sunak just avoided a major revolt by right-wing Tory MPs last month as they instead abstained on his controversial Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, aimed at deterring migrants.
He will have to strengthen the legislation or face it being voted down when it returns to the Commons this month.
