British Prime Minister's Claims of Tackling Small Boat Crossings Challenged by BBC Fact-Check

Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, claimed that his plan to tackle small boat crossings is working, with a 20% decrease in crossings compared to the same period last year.

However, the BBC fact-checked the claim and found that while there were fewer people crossing in small boats between January and May, the biggest increase in numbers occurred during the summer months.

The Prime Minister was comparing January to May this year to the same period last year, however, the Home Office later clarified that the comparison was between January to March 2022 and January to May 2023.

The Prime Minister also claimed that the asylum backlog would be cleared by the end of the year, however, at the current rate of progress, it would take more than 23 months to make the initial decision on the remaining applications.

The Prime Minister also stated that 1,800 Albanian asylum seekers had been returned to their home country, however, this figure includes foreign national offenders and people who have returned voluntarily.

Albanians accounted for nearly 30% of small boat arrivals in 2022, with most of them applying for asylum.