To date, around 20 migrants have crossed the Channel despite strong winds and chilly conditions at sea.
The mostly male group, clad in thick jackets and foil blankets, were taken aboard a Border Force ship to Dover, Kent, around 9am.
The boat could be seen swaying as it battled gusts of up to 30 miles per hour and rough conditions to get back to shore.
While the government has not confirmed official migrant arrivals for today, UK officials can be seen helping around 20 people off the ship and removing their life jackets.
To date, a group of around 20 migrants have crossed the Channel despite strong winds and chilly conditions at sea
The mostly male group, dressed in thick jackets and foil blankets, were taken aboard a Border Force ship to Dover, Kent, around 9am.
The latest group of people were the second to make the dangerous crossing, arriving in the UK in almost two weeks following bad weather.
People smugglers took advantage of a temporary break in wind conditions in the Channel on Saturday, with 36 migrants making the perilous 21-mile journey across the Dover Strait in a boat.
The last crossing before this took place on 14 November, when 400 men in eight ships reached British soil.
The provisional total for the year is 1036 boats carrying 42,164 asylum seekers so far – an average of 41 people per vessel. Of these, 2,261 migrants arrived in November alone.
It has already surpassed 2021’s total of 28,526 people and 2020 saw just 8,410 people make the crossing in inflatable canoes or other small craft.
While the government has yet to confirm the official migrant arrival, UK officials can be seen helping around 20 people off the ship and removing their life jackets.
Rishi Sunak is today facing mounting pressure from Tory MPs to make emergency changes to modern slavery laws to reduce the number of ‘fake asylum seekers’ crossing the Channel in small boats.
A group of 50 led by former minister David Davies has written to the prime minister calling for a ‘simple’ change to the law to be swiftly implemented to help ease the flow of people who have reached 40,000 this year.
They want changes to modern slavery laws to make it easier for people who they believe are not eligible for asylum, who they say are victims of trafficking, to be returned.
Tory backbenchers say the Channel crossing is a ‘Gordian knot that needs to be cut with a simple policy’.
The demand comes as Mr Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman face pressure to halt crossings and improve conditions for asylum seekers in Britain.
Signatories, including Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Tory Backbenchers’ Committee in 1922, demanded that ‘economic emigrants’ traveling from ‘safe countries’ such as Albania be returned more quickly.
They argue that ‘those who claim they are unwilling victims of human trafficking or modern slavery’ should be ‘returned to their homes in the villages they came from’.
Mr Davies told Sky News today that Albanian arrivals should be told ‘immediately – in a summary decision’ that they cannot claim asylum.
The letter was arranged by former Brexit secretary David Davis at the Channel crossing
The Tories argue ‘if they have really been taken against their will, they cannot reasonably object to being returned to their homes’.
He wrote, ‘The loopholes in our modern slavery laws that prevent this clearly defy the purposes of that law and must be removed.’
They argue that a ‘direct and legally practical way of addressing the crisis’ would be a ‘very strong deterrent’ to those planning to risk the dangerous crossing.
Former cabinet ministers Dr Liam Fox and Esther McVey, and longest-serving MP Sir Peter Bottomley, also signed the letter, which displays nerves among the Conservatives that failing to tackle the issue could cost them at the ballot box. There will be loss.
A government spokesman replied: ‘We have made clear that there is no single solution to halting the rise in dangerous crossings.
‘We have also made it clear that we will continue to use all possible means to stop illegal migration.
‘We are expediting the removal of persons by agreeing favorable bilateral return agreements with partners such as Albania, elevating this as a key priority for our foreign policy.’
Home Secretary Suella Braverman testifying to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Wednesday
