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You will recall that in a speech in early January, the PM outlined five priorities for 2023 on which he asked to be judged. One of the pledges was to ‘stop the boats’.
Keeping just to this ‘priority’, how is the government doing?
Well, despite the boast that the plan is working and pointing to a reduction on the number who crossed by this time last year, the fact is, the reduction is largely due to significantly fewer Albanians coming via this route and protracted inclement weather. Moreover, excluding Albanians the number who have arrived in 2023 is about 30% up on 2021. By the end of 2023, depending on the weather, we could be looking at 30,000 crossers or more. That is not stopping the boats.
Compared with 2022, up to 24th October this year, crossings have been less frequent and fewer people per day have come and the total number of boats used has fallen from 938 to 543. However, the average number in a boat has risen sharply.
- Crossings have taken place on 127 out of the 297 days up to 24 October this year, in contrast with 142 out of 297 days in 2022.
- The average crossings per day has fallen from 282 last year to 209 this year.
- The average people per boat has risen from 38 in 2022 (with a top daily average of 53) to 48 (with a top daily average of 71).
For more details take a look at our Channel crossings tracker here.
In an effort to avert our gaze from the high numbers continuing to cross the Channel illegally, the government trumpeted ending the use of 50 hotels as accommodation for asylum seekers. A further 50 are to stop doing so by the spring. This of course will leave some 300 hotels around country still being used to house migrants.
The deal with Albania has clearly had an impact and it would be churlish not to recognise this as a government achievement. However, in many respects, this success also highlights the government’s failings elsewhere. Surely what the deal with Albania shows is that when those coming illegally from a safe country know they will not be allowed to stay, they will stop coming. On the other hand, for non-Albanians, who are coming in greater numbers, the clear message is that if you are not Albanian, you will be allowed to stay.
This is a preview of Migration Watch’s free weekly newsletter. You can read the full version here.
Please consider signing up to the newsletter directly, you can do so here and will receive an email copy of the newsletter every Friday as soon as it is released.