Albanian small boat crossings surge after a winter drop-off
Albanian small boat crossings surge after a winter drop-off with 150 arriving in just seven days
- First five months of this year 151 Albanians arrived by small boat, data shows
- But in the past week the running total of arrivals has doubled to almost 300
The number of Albanian small boat migrants reaching Britain has surged after a winter drop-off, with numbers doubling in the past week.
The latest figures appear to realise Home Office predictions of a resurgence this spring after numbers plummeted over the colder months.
In the first five months of this year 151 Albanians arrived by small boat, according to published data.
But in the past week the running total has doubled to almost 300, as a further 150 migrants arrived in just seven days, Border Force sources told the Mail.
Early signs of a resurgence will alarm Rishi Sunak, who two weeks ago announced that his illegal immigration plan ‘is starting to work’.
The number of Albanian small boat migrants reaching Britain has surged after a winter drop-off, with numbers doubling in the past week. Pictured: A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover last month
The latest figures appear to realise Home Office predictions of a resurgence this spring after numbers plummeted over the colder months. Pictured: Migrants are brought in to Dover on May 8 after being rescued by a Border Force vessel
In the first five months of this year 151 Albanians arrived by small boat, according to published data. But in the past week the running total has doubled to almost 300, as a further 150 migrants arrived in just seven days, Border Force sources told the Mail. Pictured: Migrants arriving in Dover on May 25
He voiced cautious optimism as the number of arrivals was showing a 20 per cent year-on-year dip.
However, this year’s arrivals are now just 10 per cent below the same point last year.
Separate Home Office figures released today showed there were 333 arrivals – of all nationalities – across the Channel yesterday, bringing this year’s running total to 10,472.
At the same point last year the figure stood at 11,662.
Mr Sunak has made stopping small boats one of his five key pledges as Prime Minister after Albanian arrivals helped push last year’s total to a record 45,700.
In all, there were 12,301 Albanian small boat arrivals last year – the largest nationality overall – after a previously unseen surge from the east European country began in May.
Albanian arrivals went from 235 in the first three months of last year to 1,930 in the following quarter and 9,037 in the next one.
From October to December they plummeted to 1,099 and then to 29 from January to March.
Provisional data for April 1 to May 30 showed there were 122 Albanian arrivals.
Home Office sources said last November they expected Albanian numbers to show a resurgence this spring.
The total number of small-boat arrivals so far this year remains below the equivalent number at this point last year. But they are getting closer.
Crossings have picked up in recent days after a quiet period earlier in the month, with 2,862 people reported to have arrived between June 10 and 18.
In October the then Home Office Channel clandestine threat commander Dan O’Mahoney told MPs that Albanian migrants were ‘typically put in hotels for a couple of days and then disappear’ to work in the black economy.
The following month senior officials from the National Crime Agency warned Albanian criminals were committing ‘blatant manipulation’ of the UK’s modern slavery laws.
The agency said Albanian organised crime groups were bringing workers into Britain by small boat to work in the drugs trade, for example in cannabis farms.
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In some cases Albanians had been ‘coached’ how to exploit modern slavery laws if they were arrested, the agency said.
Days later, the Albanian ambassador to Britain admitted migrants from his country were ‘pretending’ to be victims of modern slavery.
Qirjako Qirko told MPs that many Albanians who cross the Channel by small boat were ‘just economic migrants’.
Mr Sunak agreed a new deal with Tirana in December that was designed to make it easier to return Albanians who do not have the right to be in the UK.
Between then and the first week of April, more than 1,000 Albanians have been sent back, including failed asylum seekers, criminals and voluntary returnees.
Other trends seen in Channel arrivals include a soaring number of Indian nationals crossing illegally by small boat.
In April the Mail reported that Home Office sources had observed an ‘unexplained spike’ in Indians coming by dinghy.
Numbers jumped almost twentyfold from 46 in the first quarter of 2022 to 797 in the first quarter of this year after a surge that began last summer.
The number of Turkish migrants reaching Britain by small boat has also tripled in the wake of February’s devastating earthquake that left more than 59,000 dead, including more than 50,000 in Turkey.
Turks made up the third largest nationality arriving between April 1 and May 30, with 389 arrivals, compared with 130 in the previous three months..
The number of Afghans coming by small boat has been increasing since the Taliban takeover of the country in summer 2021, with 8,633 arrivals last year.
Migrants are escorted ashore from a UK Border Force vessel in Dover on June 15
Afghans made up the largest nationality coming across the Channel so far this year, with more than 1,500.
Last week the United Nations warned that 110million people globally have been displaced from their homes.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said numbers had soared by more than 20million in just over a year.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.
‘Our priority is to stop the boats and our Small Boats Operational Command is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.’
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