Move FM Global News

LONDON, England: Even as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping arrivals of migrants by boat one of his government’s five priorities, court documents indicate that Britain could expect 56,000 migrants to cross the Channel in small boats to its shores this year.

With additional migrants, Britain would then find itself housing as many as 140,000 asylum seekers. Already this year, 5,000 more migrants have arrived in Britain by crossing the Channel.

Meanwhile, in court documents submitted as part of a case being brought against it at London’s High Court, the government said as of March it was estimated to be accommodating more than 109,000 asylum seekers, with 48,000 in hotels, at a cost of $7.7 million per day.

“Significantly, the number needing support is predicted to grow still further: Home Office operational plans are based on scenarios of up to 56,000 small boat arrivals in 2023,” the document reported. “That would take the supported population to between 120,000 and 140,000.”

Last year, Britain agreed to send tens of thousands of migrants to Rwanda, but so far no one has been deported while the courts decide whether the policy is lawful.

In the meantime, the government is examining using military bases or large barges to house asylum seekers, but that has prompted anger from some Conservative-run councils over plans to accommodate migrants in disused sites in their areas.