Around 45,000 irregular migrants crossed the English Channel arriving in the UK in 2022 – up by 17,000 on the previous year, new UK government figures reveal.

The arrivals have become a polarising issue and a political problem for the UK’s conservative government, which has floated draconian measures to stop the irregular migration while also targeting gangs of smugglers.

The data show 45,756 people made the treacherous crossing in small-boats last year – transecting on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes – compared with 28,526 in 2021.

Four people died in December when a small boat packed with migrants capsized in freezing temperatures in the Channel. A fishing boat in the area rescued 43 more people from the freezing waters.

That incident occurred just over a year after at least 27 people drowned when their dinghy capsized, a disaster that sparked soul-searching on both sides of the Channel.

Last year also saw the highest ever single-day total of migrants making the crossing, with 1,295 making the journey on August 22.

In November, French emergency services reported the rescue of 240 migrants heading in small boats across the Channel to the southern coast of England within a 24-hour period.

As the migrant crossings ramp up, the UK government have promised drastic and controversial measures.

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has outlined a plan to send migrants to Rwanda – a policy which UK High Court judges have ruled is lawful but has which has been stalled by continued legal action.

Ms Braverman revealed £3.5 billion would be spent on the asylum system in 2022/23 – £2.3 billion of the total bill going towards paying for hotels.

She also flagged plans to house asylum seekers in mothballed cruise ships after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to bring in legislation in 2023 that would make it illegal for people entering the UK irregularly to remain there.

Also among measures to curb English Channel crossings and address the backlog of asylum claims, Mr Sunak also vowed to stop housing asylum seekers in hotels, with the Government attempting to source accommodation in holiday parks, student dormitories and military sites.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has criticised the UK’s immigration system saying it is “grossly wasteful, staggeringly inefficient” and “cruel”.

The UK Government’s proposal to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda was a mistake and would be a failure, Archbishop Justin Welby said.

And he criticised the language of “invasion”, used by Ms Braverman.

“Such terms denied the essential value and dignity of fellow human beings”, he said.

Archbishop Welby, the leader of the Anglican Church, was speaking in the House of Lords recently, introducing a debate on the ethics behind the UK asylum and refugee policy.

He told the gathering that the Government should restore safe and legal ways for asylum-seekers to enter the UK and it should do more to combat people-smugglers transporting people across the Channel.