Migrant crisis: More than 750 cross Channel in just TWO DAYS - Just one boatload short of passing last year's total for ENTIRE year

Around 509 migrants crossed the Channel from France on Thursday, according to official Home Office figures.

GB News can confirm that an additional 242 migrants have made the illegal journey so far on Friday.

This Channel's Kent producer counted 125 migrants, as they disembarked from the Border Force vessel Hurricane at Dover harbour just before 8am.

An hour later, 66 migrants arrived at the main migrant processing centre onboard the Border Force vessel Ranger.

Just half an hour after that, a further 51 migrants were taken to Dover by the Border Force vessel Defender.

The Labour Government is braced for the number of migrant arrivals to surpass last year's total within hours.

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Sir Keir Starmer promised to "smash the gangs" and end the crisis which has steadily grown in intensity since the first migrant boats began arriving in 2018.

Over the years, the people smuggling criminal networks have become increasingly more sophisticated, and have moved from a model of only pushing small boats out in the Summer months, to launching migrant boats all year round.

That has brought an increase in the number of lives lost in the English Channel.

Almost 50 have died in multiple incidents so far this year, the worst year for migrant deaths since the crisis began.

On Wednesday, a further three migrants died when their boat began sinking off the French coast, near Calais.

In response to those latest drownings, a Home Office spokesperson said: “This devastating tragedy is a further reminder that the people-smuggling gangs only care about the profits they make, not about the lives they put at risk.

"We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."