Sunak Says UK Making Progress Against ‘Small Boat’ Migration
- Number of migrants crossing Channel to UK fell 36% last year
- Prime minister says government on track to limit migration
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UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his government has slashed the number of people arriving in Britain without permission and eliminated a historical backlog in processing asylum cases as he seeks to show voters that the Conservative administration is making progress in bearing down on immigration.
The government last year processed 112,000 asylum claims and removed 24,000 people from the UK, according to a Home Office statement late on Monday. Data also showed the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats dropped 36% last year, the first decline in at least five years — though still the second highest annual total.