Thousands of people risked their lives attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK in 2021, despite the journey being fraught with peril.
Men, women and children crammed into unsafe dinghies reached Britain from France on more than 40% of days last year.
The PA news agency tracked and analysed crossings all year. Some key numbers include:
– 28,395
At least this many people reached the UK on board small boats in 2021
– More than 1,000
The number of boats believed to have been met by Border Force or landed on UK beaches
– At least 27
The death toll when a dinghy headed for Britain sank off the coast of France in November
– 1,185
The number of people who crossed to the UK on November 11 – the current single-day record.
– 3,114
The number of people who crossed during a seven-day period in November.
– January
The month with the lowest number of successful crossings (223), one of only four months last year with a figure below 1,600.
– November
The month with the highest number of people reaching the UK in small boats (6,869), nearly the entire total for 2020.
– 41%
Days in 2021 when at least one boat successfully crossed to the UK.
– About 28
Average number of people travelling aboard each small boat that arrived in the UK in 2021, up from just over 13 in 2020.
– 20,000
Last year saw an increase of around 20,000 on 2020’s total for small boats arrivals.
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