Migrants who arrived in the UK after making the perilous journey across the English Channel in small boats accounted for 32% of the total number of people claiming asylum last year.
There was a sharp fall in the number of foreign workers issued UK visas last year but asylum applications rocketed, new Home Office figures have revealed.
Some 38,079 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of December, up 2,428 from 35,651 at the end of September.
There were 124,802 people waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of December 2024.
A total of 108,138 people applied for asylum in Britain in 2024, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
