More than 300 migrants arrive in UK as crossings continue for FOURTH day in a row: Asylum-seekers land on Kent beach as total numbers making crossing the year rises above 8,500 despite risk of Rwanda deportation

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Around 300 migrants are thought to have reached the UK by small boat today - as Channel crossings continued for a fourth day in a row.

One group of asylum seekers were seen landing on UK shores this morning at Dungeness, Kent, after being rescued by RNLI crews when their boats ran into trouble.

The group of 60 people - among them three children and two women - were seen on the beaches getting off the emergency lifeboat vessel, which had pulled them out of the English Channel.

Officers processing the arrivals were seen carrying out security checks on a long queue of men with handheld scanners, while a small number of women and children were also pictured on board the lifeboat. One of the migrants appeared to be holding an Albanian passport in his hand. 

A further 70 people made the perilous journey across the Channel, arriving at Dover Harbour, Kent, less than two hours later. They were brought to shore on board Border Force cutter Valiant shortly before 10am.

Other boats arrived shortly after, including one with around 30 people who were escorted to the harbour on board Border Force catamaran Typhoon.  

A similar size group arrived in Dover shortly after 12pm on board an RNLI lifeboat, before another Border Force boat, the Hurricane, escorted a final group in around 1pm.

The new numbers takes the total figure for this year closer to 8,500, with little sign of any tail-off. It also means crossings have taken place for four consecutive days - despite the Home Office saying it will deport migrants found to have travelled illegally for economic reasons rather than asylum to Rwanda.

Over 600 migrants arrived in the UK by small boat this weekend, 167 in 13 boats on Saturday and 436 in nine boats on Sunday. 

Since the start of 2022, 8,393 people have reached the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats, according to analysis of government data by the PA news agency.

This is more than double the number recorded for the same period in 2021 (3,112) and more than six times the amount recorded at this point in 2020 (1,340).

Some 50 were seen on the beaches getting off the emergency lifeboat vessel, which had scooped them out of the Channel

A group of people thought to be migrants are processed by security officers after being brought in to Dungeness, Kent

A group of people thought to be migrants walk up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness, Kent, after being rescued 

While the official figures for Tuesday are yet to be released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), approximately 60 people arrived on the beach at Dungeness, Kent at 8.40am - among them were three children and two women.

They were seen being made to turn out their pockets by UK officials before being scanned with metal detector wands. One man stood with his hands in the air as he was scanned with the hand-held device.

Another group, of around 70 migrants, arrived less than two hours later at Dover Harbour. They were escorted along the gangway to be processed by soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues and high vis vests.

One migrant appeared to be limping as he was pointed in the right direction by a female soldier. A third group of around 30 people was escorted to the harbour on board Border Force catamaran Typhoon around 11.30am. 

They were led off the boat by Border Force officials and soldiers dressed in camouflage fatigues and high-vis vests.

Another of a similar size arrived in Dover shortly after 12pm on board an RNLI lifeboat. Two of the migrants waved at onlookers as they approached the harbour, while another threw both of his arms in the air in triumph. 

RNLI volunteers could be seen tending to one of the people on board, who appeared to be injured, as they approached the harbour.

The final group were escorted into the harbour on Border Force cutter Hurricane after 1pm.

Poor weather conditions last week meant there were four consecutive days last week without any crossings taking place.

Reform UK leader Richard Tice uploaded a video to his Twitter of dozens of migrants being escorted along a beach.

The 30 second clip shows the group of what appears to be mainly men, some of whom briefly stop to pray, arriving in the UK over the weekend.

Mr Tice said: 'WATCH: NO RWANDA DETERRENT, as many hundreds arriving today on South Coast. Smugglers are laughing at us.'

Migrants who arrive on British shores face the threat of being deported the Rwanda, in Africa.

Under a partnership agreement with the Rwandan government, people arriving in the UK, including by crossing the Channel in small boats, will be flown 4,000 miles to East Africa if they are deemed to have travelled illegally for economic reasons rather than asylum. 

Around 50 men and women and three children arrive at Dungeness life station today after the RNLI rescue in the Channel

A suspected migrant is frisked by a border official in Kent after he was among 50 brought to shore by the RNLI lifeboat

There has been little sign of smuggling gangs taking notice of the threat by the Home Office to deport some to Rwanda

The number of migrants who have come to the UK on small boats is significantly higher than what it was at this point last year

A record 28,395 migrants reached the UK illegally last year in small boats over the Channel, a 200 per cent increase on 2020

There have been nine days of crossings so far in May, with 1,700 people arriving in the UK as a result.

The highest daily total for 2022 to date was recorded on April 13 when 651 people made the crossing in 18 boats.

A record 1,185 people made the crossing to the UK on November 11 2021 - the highest recorded since the start of 2020.

A total of 28,526 people made the crossing in 2021, compared with 8,466 in 2020, 1,843 in 2019 and 299 in 2018, official Home Office figures show.

The latest crossings come after the department said it had started to tell the first asylum seekers they could be flown to Rwanda under its new deportation plan, with flights expected to begin in 'the coming months'.

In an interview with the Daily Mail this weekend, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 50 migrants have already been told they are due to be flown to the east African nation within a fortnight but he anticipated legal opposition to the move.

Last week Tom Pursglove, one of the Government's immigration ministers, told MPs on the Commons Home Affairs Committee that the scheme was a 'new and untested policy' and could not point to what modelling was used to give the 'evidence base' to implement it.

Despite the increasing numbers, the UK's small boat arrivals are a fraction of the number of people arriving in Europe.

Data from the UN's refugee agency shows at least 120,441 people arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea in 2021.