Channel migrants: Almost 200 migrants cross Channel in small boats

A total of 190 people crossed the English Channel to the UK on Thursday, the Home Office said.

They arrived in Kent in six boats. The French authorities stopped a further 85 people from making the crossing in three boats.

Crossings have taken place this week amid warm weather and calm seas. Almost 400 migrants made the crossing on Tuesday, including several children.

It means more than 2,500 people have arrived via small boats in March.

The figure is more than three times as many as the number of 831 migrants that arrived in March last year.

Tom Pursglove, minister for tackling illegal migration, said: "The rise in dangerous Channel crossings is unacceptable.

"Not only are they an overt abuse of our immigration laws but they also impact on the UK taxpayer, risk lives and our ability to help refugees come to the UK via safe and legal routes."

Mr Pursglove said the government was cracking down on people smugglers through the Nationality and Borders Bill, which would also make it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally.

The government has suffered a series of defeats in the House of Lords over its borders bill, which has come in for criticism and attracted protests.

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