Some 20,000 migrants attempted to cross the English Channel since January, almost twice as many as the same period in 2021

More than 20,000 people have attempted to cross the English Channel from France in small boats so far this year, British government figures show, a number almost double the figures for the same period in 2021.

A total of 607 people were detected on Saturday, the third time the total has exceeded 600 since the start of 2022, bringing the provisional total for the year to 20,017.

At this point last year, just over 11,300 crossings had been made for a total of 28,526 crossings by the end of 2021.

As for August, 3,618 crossings have been detected in August so far, with 1,694 in the last week. The highest daily total of 2022 to date was recorded on August 1, when 696 people made the crossing in 14 vessels.

Despite the increase in numbers, small boat arrivals to the UK represent only fraction of the number of people going to mainland Europe. UN refugee agency data show that at least 120,441 people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea in 2021.