Team Blitz India
The United Kingdom has witnessed a drop in the number of irregular arrivals in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to the latest statistics from the Home Office, which added that 80 pc of these immigrants used small boats.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Government was facing criticism over immigration policies and had thus introduced several strictures. For students, visa restrictions were introduced for spouses. The Home Office data, published on February 29, said that 36,704 irregular arrivals were accounted for in 2023, which was one-third fewer than in 2022.
There were 29,437 small boat arrivals in 2023 – which was 80 pc of total irregular arrivals. In comparison, 45,755 people were detected arriving by small boats in 2022. Incidentally, the total in 2022 was 60 per cent higher than in 2021.
Previous years’ data
While there was an initial increase in small boats detections in 2019, recorded detections on other routes remained relatively stable, the Home Office stated last year, sharing 2022 statistics. Small boat arrivals increased further in 2020 as detections on other routes declined, likely in part due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic making other methods of entry such as air or ferry less viable, it had added.
However, in 2021 and 2022, there was a substantial increase in the numbers of small boat arrivals. This occurred despite the other entry methods becoming more viable as global Covid-19 restrictions eased. In 2023, Afghans were the top small boat arrival nationality, accounting for 20% of such instances in 2023. Also, there were 1,889 returns of small boat arrivals in 2023, almost five times higher than in 2022 (which was 379).
Entry clearance visa
Overall, there were 3.40 million entry clearance visas granted in 2023, 20 per cent higher than 2022 and 7 per cent higher than prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the latest data said. The increase within the last year is primarily due to 560,365 more visitor visas, which made up over half (58 pc) of total visas granted in 2023 although the number is 19 pc fewer than in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
In contrast, there are now more work and study visas granted in 2023 (36 pc) than in 2019 (19 pc), the report added.
