Charities have criticised the lack of legal routes to claim asylum in the UK from abroad after a record number of migrants were confirmed to have crossed the Channel in small boats on Friday. The Home Office has confirmed 145 people, including 51 onboard an inflatable boat, were brought ashore on 8 May after making the perilous journey across the channel. They mostly setsail from France in the warm weather. A further 82 people were picked up on Saturday. Pictures taken at Dover port on Saturday showed people wearing facemasks being processed by border officials. On Sunday, Border Force was alerted to another boat at 3.20am that was found to be carrying 17 people, bringing the total Bank Holiday weekend figure to at least 244. A large number of those who arrived in the UK over the weekend presented themselves as Iranian, Afghan, Yemini, Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Syrian nationals, who now face the possibility of months in detention. Friday’s figure is thought to be a new single-day record of intercepted clandestine arrivals on small boats after 102 migrants were picked up on 7 February, as the UK braced for Storm Ciara, the then record daily total. The previous official record was surpassed the day before, when 90 migrants crossed the sea separating Britain and mainland Europe. Since lockdown was announced in Britain on 23 March, at least 853 migrants have been intercepted by UK authorities and brought ashore, according to data gathered by PA Media. With growing numbers of people prepared to risk their lives to seek refuge in the UK, charities have suggested that the rise could yet continue without the creation of safe routes for asylum seekers – who ordinarily need to be in the UK to make an application. “Many people fleeing war and persecution feel forced to put their lives into the hands of criminal smugglers because there are no safe and legal routes to claim asylum in the UK,” said Stephen Hale, the chief executive of Refugee Action. “The government must stop talking tough and start acting smart. This means creating more ways for people to claim protection in the UK, including a long-term commitment to resettle 10,000 refugees every year.” Clare Moseley, the founder of charity Care4Calais, said coronavirus had made migrants’ bad situations life-threateningly worse amidst awful conditions in France’s refugee camps. “Now more than ever, we need to give people a safe and humane way to have their requests for asylum fairly heard,” she said. “That’s the way to end chaotic and dangerous channel crossings once and for all.” Fizza Qureshi, the co-chief executive of Migrants’ Rights Network, also said the dire conditions in France’s camps had become even poorer due to the lockdown and that the UK government could have stepped up efforts to reunite families rather than leaving people to languish. “It’s completely understandable why people are resorting to making the perilous journey across the channel,” she said. “They’re desperate and want to be with their loved ones. We urgently need safe and legal routes to enable people to reunite with their families.” Amnesty UK said the sheer desperation to escape squalor and uncertainty was being felt more acutely due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Smugglers will be taking advantage of increased fear, and continue to be assisted by the British and French governments by their consistent and intentional failure to take and share responsibility for ensuring people’s safe access to asylum procedures,” Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty UK’s refugee and migrant rights programme director said. The home secretary, Priti Patel, said on Thursday that the rise in migrants making the journey on boats across the channel was linked to lockdown road restrictions at the border. On Sunday, Chris Philp, the minister for immigration compliance and the courts, said: “We are all working night and day to dismantle and arrest the criminal gangs who trade in people-smuggling. “The recent increase in crossings is totally unacceptable and it is sickening that smugglers are willing to put people’s lives at risk, including children. This is why we are stepping up action to stop the crossings, going after the criminals perpetrating these heinous crimes and prosecuting them for their criminal activity.”