Britain expects up to 56,000 immigrants to arrive in small boats this year

FILE PHOTO: Officials stand beside a migrant processing centre at the Port of Dover, in Dover, Britain, March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is anticipating that 56,000 migrants will cross the Channel in small boats to its shores this year, court documents show, meaning it would be need to house as many as 140,000 asylum seekers.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping boat arrivals one of his five priorities after the number of migrants arriving on the south coast of England soared to a record level in 2022 of more than 45,000, up 500% in the last two years.