UK's small boats crisis continues to impose financial burden on government: Report

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - The numerous small boats crossing the English Channel with migrants seeking asylum are imposing significant financial burdens on the UK, on top of the existing cost-of-living crisis, with estimated daily costs coming in at £5-7 million ($6-9 million), according to a new report.

"The annual cost of housing newcomers which incorporate illegal Channel migrants would be in the region of £1.8-2.6 billion," said a report released Tuesday by Policy Exchange, a conservative London-based think tank.

In 2022, the number of people arriving in the UK by small boats via the English Channel was 45,755, leaping 60.4% compared to the previous year's figure of 28,526.

More than 51% of these arrivals took place during the three-month period of August, September, and October, the report said.

August 2022 witnessed the highest number of small-boat arrivals ever recorded, with 8,631 individuals, more than the populations of entire villages and civil parishes across the UK, said the group.

The number of Albanian nationals who arrived in the UK via small boats shot upward between 2020 and 2021 (from 54 to 815) and again between 2021 and 2022 (from 815 to over 12,300).

Although the government has not publicly confirmed the exact number of hotels involved, recent reporting by the BBC, citing a government source, said 395 hotels, the vast majority in England, are accommodating over 51,000 asylum seekers at a cost of over £6 million per day.

Despite the government's intention to relocate asylum seekers to more cost-effective forms of accommodation such as disused military bases, holiday camps, student halls, and ferries, the constant influx of small-boat arrivals into the UK suggests that the expenses associated with hotels will likely remain persistently high, the report suggested.