How many people cross the Channel in small boats and how many claim asylum in the UK? – BBC

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says that "stopping the boats" coming to the UK is a key priority.
But part of the government's plan to do this – sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda – has been ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court.
As of 13 November, 27,284 people had crossed the English Channel in 2023.
In 2022, 45,755 migrants made the crossing, the highest number since figures began to be collected in 2018.
In total, more than 100,000 people have come to the UK this way since 2018.
More than 36,000 people claimed asylum in the first half of 2023.
In the whole of 2022, more than 89,000 people requested asylum. Small boat arrivals accounted for about 45% of those.
The number of annual applications – including dependants – peaked at about 103,000 in 2002, as people fled conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.
Claims then fell sharply, dropping to a 20-year low of 22,600 in 2010.
However, numbers rose again throughout the 2010s, as refugees fled Syria.
In the first half of 2023, the largest number of asylum seekers came from Afghanistan (3,366).
The next biggest group, with just over 3,200 applications, came from Iran, followed by India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In 2022, the highest number of asylum seekers came from Albania: nearly 16,000 people, including dependants. Most (67%) arrived on small boats.
Ukrainian refugees who came to the UK after Russia's invasion of their country are not included in the figures.
There are two legal routes for Ukrainian refugees: the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine scheme. As of 7 November 2023, 245,500 visas had been issued under the schemes, and as of 6 November, 192,100 Ukrainians had arrived in the UK.
There are separate arrangements for a few other specific groups, such as Afghan refugees and some Hong Kong citizens.
Some people wait months or even years for their claims to be considered.
Delays in the UK system have created a backlog of more than 175,000 claims. The prime minister has pledged to clear much of this by the end of 2023.
As of June 2023, the majority of people in the backlog (80%) had been waiting more than six months for an initial decision.
People are not allowed to work while their claim is being processed, but after 12 months, they can apply for permission to do jobs on the UK shortage occupation list.
Many asylum seekers are housed in hotels, at an estimated cost of £8m a day.
The government has announced that several ex-military bases will also be used to house thousands of asylum seekers.
It also hopes to accommodate about 500 asylum seekers on the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset, although the first people to stay there had to be evacuated in August after Legionella bacteria was found in the water supply.
The Home Office can remove people with no legal right to stay in the UK or refuse to let them enter the country.
In the year to March 2023 – the latest data available – here were more than 40,000 returns.
Of these, 3,354 had previously claimed asylum.
This represents an increase of 68% to the year before, partly because of a sharp rise in returns of people from Albania (from 573 to 1,272).
Enforced returns mainly related to foreign national offenders, and almost half (46%) were EU nationals.
Albanians and Romanians accounted for 25% and 18% respectively of all enforced returns.
In the first nine months of 2023, 279,350 migrants arrived in the EU, according to Frontex, the EU's border agency.
That represents an increase of 17% on the same period in 2022, and is the highest January-to-September total since 2016.
Most came across the Mediterranean, with Italy receiving the highest number.
The number of EU migrants peaked in 2015, when more than a million people arrived – the majority fleeing the Syria conflict.
In 2022, the UK had the fifth highest number of asylum applications in Europe, behind Germany, France, Spain and Austria.
With 217,735 applications, Germany received a quarter of all first-time asylum applications within the EU.
France had the second highest number (137,510) followed by Spain (116,135) and Austria (106,380).
In 2022, the UK authorities made initial decisions on 18,699 asylum applications and granted 14,211 of them (76%).
In the same period, Germany made 197,540 asylum decisions, and granted more than 50%.
France – a country with a similar-sized population to the UK – made 129,735 decisions, and also granted more than 50%.
An asylum seeker is someone who has applied for protection in another country because they are fleeing persecution – or the fear of persecution.
If they are successful, they are granted leave to remain in the country where they sought refuge. If their application is refused, they can be removed.
A migrant refers to someone who has left their country of origin and has not claimed asylum. Some migrants leave their countries for work or study.
An illegal migrant is someone who entered the UK illegally (ie without a visa or prior permission) or someone who entered legally but remained in the country after their visa expired.
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