Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to stop dangerous and illegal Channel crossings and to ensure criminal gangs can no longer assist illegal immigration into the UK, and when they expect such crossings to end.

The Government continues to work closely with domestic and international partners to reduce the incidence of these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossings, and to prosecute those who profit from them.

Crossing attempts have decreased by a third this year, and large numbers of suspected facilitators have been arrested. Violence is now being increasingly employed by migrants and facilitators when crossing attempts are disrupted by French law enforcement, suggesting that these efforts are having an impact on criminals.

The Illegal Migration Act, enacted in July this year, marks a vital step forward in ending these crossings by removing the incentives for using these dangerous, illegal, and unnecessary routes.

A timescale for the ending of these crossings cannot currently be given, but in 2023 for the first time we have seen a reduction in arrivals.