'UK is not being invaded by migrants', charity boss says after record number of crossings

6 August 2021, 7:18

"The public shouldn't fear they're being invaded," Anthony Steen the Executive Chair of the Human Trafficking Foundation says the number of migrants coming to the UK is "relatively small".

Speaking to LBC's Tom Swarbrick the charity boss called for a better system to process asylum applications.

"Every country has a British Embassy," he said as he called for a "fairer, faster and quicker," system for those seeking refuge in the UK.

Read more: New daily record sees migrant Channel crossings pass 10,000 this year

The conversation comes after at least 482 people succeeded in crossing the Dover Strait on Wednesday on board 21 boats - a new record for a single day.

This means more than 10,000 people have now made the life-threatening journey across the English Channel in small boats this year.

Wednesday's 482 arrivals - confirmed by the Home Office on Thursday morning - surpass the previous daily high of 430 set on July 19 2021.

Despite this, the UK continues to see far fewer boat arrivals and asylum claims than many of its European counterparts.

At least 50,989 people have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean by land and sea so far this year, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

At least 1,016 people are estimated to be dead or missing, according to the same data.

Home Secretary Priti Patel and her department have repeatedly vowed to make the Channel route "unviable", but crossings have continued to rise.