Majority of migrants crossing Channel are Albanian – reports

The majority of a record-breaking number of migrants who arrived in the UK were from Albania, according to reports from Border Force officers.

The ISU union, which represents staff working for the Home Office’s law enforcement body, said its members had seen an increase in people from the south-eastern European country making the Channel crossing in the last few months.

Government officials believe around 60% of migrants making the crossing each day now are Albanian, although figures fluctuate, the PA news agency understands.

Reports from the staff involved on Monday suggest the majority of those arriving were Albanian. There were other nationalities; but not that many

Lucy Moreton

More than 700 out of the record total of almost 1,300 migrants who were brought ashore on Monday were Albanian, the Daily Mail reported.

It is thought crime lords in the country could be sending people with no criminal record to the UK aboard migrant boats to join organised gangs, the newspaper said.

Lucy Moreton, from the ISU union, said: “ISU members have seen and reported this increase (of Albanian arrivals) over the last few months.

“Reports from the staff involved on Monday suggest the majority of those arriving were Albanian.

“There were other nationalities; but not that many.

“The precise nationality breakdown of immigrants using this route does shift from time to time and often reflects the nationalities of those seeking to facilitate the traffic.

“Members report the working hypothesis that the recent increases in Albanians is to replace those who have been arrested, imprisoned and/or deported as a result of increased police activity in the organised crime sphere.

“This is a hypothesis only, but does make sense.”

Some 1,295 migrants arrived in the UK on Monday in 27 boats, according to provisional Ministry of Defence (MoD) data.

It is the highest daily total since current records began in 2018, topping the previous record of 1,185, on November 11 2021.

The weather and the effective interception of boats at sea have been suggested as some of the reasons behind the high numbers of crossings.

More than 22,800 people have arrived in the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats such as dinghies so far in 2022, according to the figures.

So far in August 6,458 people have been recorded making the crossing, which is already higher than any monthly total for the year so far.

To date, the highest monthly total for crossings on record is November 2021 (6,971).

It is four months since Home Secretary Priti Patel unveiled plans to send migrants to Rwanda in a bid to curb Channel crossings.

Since then, 17,589 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey.

On April 14, Ms Patel signed what she described as a “world-first” agreement with Rwanda under which the east African nation will receive migrants deemed by the UK to have arrived “illegally” and therefore inadmissible under new immigration rules.

But the first deportation flight, due to take off on June 14, was grounded amid legal challenges.

Several asylum seekers, the Public and Commercial Services union and charities Care4Calais, Detention Action and Asylum Aid are challenging the legality of the Home Office policy, with the next court hearings due in September and October.