Just 82 ‘people smugglers’ charged despite 46k asylum seekers crossing Channel to UK by small boat

JUST 82 people were charged with piloting small boat crossings last year, when a record 45,755 arrived.

They were among 121 arrested, an information request reveals.

In 2021, 28,526 were intercepted.

The number could be 80,000 this year.

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke said: “Small boats don’t just steer themselves. More needs to be done.”

August saw the highest number of small boat arrivals on record, with 8,631 people intercepted trying to cross the Channel.

The busiest day came on August 22 when 1,295 people reached the Kent coast over a 24-hour period alone.

Males represented 87 per cent of those asylum seekers who reached the UK.

And almost half of those who crossed the 21-mile Dover Straits were either Albanian (28 per cent) or Afghani (20 per cent).

Last year’s total number of small boat arrivals was 60 per cent higher than 2021, which saw 28,526 migrants intercepted.

The Home Office said the new law was starting to have an effect.