It is arguably the largest humanitarian crisis our country has ever faced – and yet hundreds of people seeking asylum continue to literally wash-up on our shores on an almost daily basis.

Whether your arms are open ready to embrace, or your fist is clenched in frustration at the prospect, it's worth asking how it has come to this and what is being done about it?

How many people are making the crossing?

The nature of the method used – people in small boats risking their lives to navigate the busiest shipping lane in the world – means a definitive figure is impossible to calculate.

Some make it unchallenged, some are intercepted and, tragically, when people have died, including at least 27 who perished in November last year when a dinghy sank.

It is understood the number of people to cross by boats last year was just over 28,300 – having been just under 300 in 2018.

Currently, the Home Office will provide a daily summary of what it classifies as "events" in The Channel.

On Saturday, February 12, for example, it said UK authorities intercepted 11 people from one event. The number can be much higher, such as on January 25, when 183 people were rescued or intercepted in seven separate "events". The same day, French authorities stopped 100 people from reaching the UK.

Reports suggest that in January this year, 1,341 people crossed the Channel, six times the number during the same month in 2021.

The truth is, the Home Office will not give an official figure for the total number. A spokesman said: "We do not provide overall running totals of small boats crossings."

And The Telegraph reported last month that the government department was planning to scrap the publication of daily Channel rescue data.

The move, revealed by the Office for Statistics Regulation, says a decision to publish quarterly instead was taken by the Home Office. As a result, it was accused of attempting to "bury bad news".

This week, it was said that two-thirds of people arriving in the UK by small boat had hypothermia, according to Home Office data obtained by the Guardian.

A Freedom of Information request found that from January to June 2021, when about 6,000 people crossed the Channel, 4,075 were suffering with hypothermia when they reached Kent.

Hundreds of others had burns or suspected broken bones.

Meanwhile, at the end of January the Home Office admitted unlawfully confiscating the phones of asylum seekers who had crossed the Channel.

Three men, from Iraq and Iran, brought a case to the High Court claiming the Home Secretary operated a "secret, blanket policy" to seize mobiles from those arriving on small boats and then downloaded the data from them.

What will the Navy's role be?

Last month, The Times revealed the military would be put in charge of operations in the Channel, which are currently overseen by Border Force.

Its front page story said: "A rear admiral will have the power to direct Border Force, coastguard, fisheries protection and customs and excise to carry out surveillance or intercept those crossing the Channel."

Later the same day, Home Secretary Priti Patel told the Commons she had “commissioned the MoD as a crucial operational partner to protect our Channel against illegal migration”.

Defence minister James Heappey said military involvement was part of a wider plan from the government, which would be announced in the coming weeks.

That announcement is yet to be made, although thought has been given to what it's called – Operation Isotrope.

The idea of putting the military in charge has raised eyebrows. Critics, including Tory backbenchers, say it will be nothing short of a "taxi service".

And an ex-Navy commander Tom Sharpe has warned MPs there is “no spare capacity” of navy vessels to tackle the number of crossings.

A select committee of MPs was told bringing in the Navy could benefit the operation in terms of "command and control", intelligence to predict when crossings might happen and its maritime surveillance experience.

A Home Office spokesman, while unable to set out what the plan was, said: "The UK armed forces already work closely with Border Force in these operations, providing expertise and assets as part of our processes in the Channel. It is right that we pursue all options to prevent illegal crossings and protect life at sea."

Are people seeking asylum going to have their claims processed abroad – or in Kent?

The Times reported earlier this month that Home Secretary Priti Patel and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss were in talks about “outsourcing” UK asylum claims to countries such as Ghana and Rwanda.

Ministers were said to be willing to pay hundreds of millions of pounds a year to any nation willing to take up its offer – although not one has done so, despite this being a policy that was agreed in March last year.

A response from Ghana’s ministry of foreign affairs denied being involved in talks with the UK about hosting a processing facility.

The Ghanaian government said: “The ministry of foreign affairs and regional integration wishes to state categorically that Ghana has not engaged with the UK on any such plan and does not intend to consider any such operation in the future.”

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper accused the government of "making things up for the sake of headlines" in a "desperate attempt to distract people from the Prime Minister’s mess".

People are far more likely to have their asylum applications processed right here in Kent.

A former MoD site in Thanet is ready to start the processing work, the Home Office confirmed on January 21.

The old Defence Fire Training and Development Centre at Manston has been repurposed for the job and, according to the BBC, is due to open this week.

It's understood Tug Haven – a processing site in Dover – has not been used since the end of January. The nearby Western Jet Foil has been used instead.

What happened to pushback?

In September last year, Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the use of 'pushback' tactics to prevent asylum seekers reaching Kent from France.

Ms Patel ordered officials to rewrite maritime law to allow boats carrying asylum seekers to be intercepted in the Channel, and said Border Force officers were to be trained in the new tactics.

After turning the boats around, the plan would see officials contact the French coastguard to inform it that vessels in French territorial waters were in need of rescue.

It was said there would be a "limited legal window" to deploy the tactics, which could only be used if "certain conditions were met".

These were to include ensuring the vessel was not in danger of sinking and was able to safely make it back to the French coast.

The measure was expected to only be used in "very limited circumstances" and would target sturdier boats rather than dinghies.

It proved an unpopular plan, with charities branding it "cruel" and questions raised over whether it was even legal.

This month, a union representing Border Force staff said its members were prepared to strike if they were told they had to implement the policy.

It is not clear whether the policy has ever been used.

“For operational reasons and to avoid giving criminals an advantage, we do not comment on specific tactics..."

The Home Office refused to comment "on specific tactics".

A spokesman said: “As part of our ongoing operational response and to prevent further loss of life at sea, we continue to test a range of safe and legal options to stop small boats making this dangerous and unnecessary journey.

"These all comply and are delivered in accordance with both domestic and international law.

“For operational reasons and to avoid giving criminals an advantage, we do not comment on specific tactics."

The spokesman also pointed out that Border Force already has existing powers within the 1971 Immigration Act to intercept vessels in UK waters.

What does the Home Office have to say about the current situation?

For almost as long as small boats have been arriving on our shores, the Home Office has insisted "people fleeing persecution should seek safety in the first safe country they reach".

This continues to be its stance, with Minister for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration, Tom Pursglove, adding that they should “not risk their lives paying criminal gangs to cross the Channel".

He said: “This government is reforming our approach to illegal entry to the UK and asylum by making the tough decisions to end the overt exploitation of our laws and its impact on UK taxpayers.

"The public have rightly had enough of the blatant disregard of our immigration laws and we are bringing in necessary long-term changes."

It aims to do so by introducing the Nationality and Borders Bill to make it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally.

Life sentences would be introduced for those who arrange illegal entry into the country.

The bill would strengthen the powers of Border Force to stop and redirect vessels, while introducing new powers to remove asylum seekers to have their claims processed outside the UK.

It would also end the cycle of limitless appeals by creating a new and expanded ‘one stop’ process to ensure all claims are made and considered up front.

And speed up the removal of those with no right to be in the UK by streamlining the appeals and judicial process.

What's the stance of charities that support people seeking asylum?

Compassion and saving lives are common themes shared by organisations that work with those who have made the Channel crossings.

They continue to call for improved safe and legal routes to be created for entry into the UK. Without that, they warn that people will continue to make the perilous journey.

Rather than repel people, they would prefer a system that accepts them and helps them integrate.

Calling in the military, they say, was the latest in a long line of "headline-grabbing" announcements by the government. There is a feeling that it was inspired by a desire to distract from other problems, such as the 'partygate' scandal.

What are the safe and legal routes open to people seeking asylum in the UK?

Refugee family reunion visas have been the main safe route to the UK in recent years.

According to the Refugee Council, in the year ending September 2021, 6,524 family reunion visas were issued to partners and children of those granted asylum or humanitarian protection in the UK, an 8% increase compared to the previous year.

About 29,000 people have come to the UK safely through family reunion in the last five years – and 90% were women and children.

But the Refugee Council has warned that the Nationality and Borders Bill, which has passed through the House of Commons and is currently being debated by Lords, will limit family reunion rights of people who arrive in the UK via unauthorised routes.

It claims the Bill will “all but destroy” the main legal safe route to the UK.

Resettlement schemes, such as that in place for those impacted by the regime change in Afghanistan, also allow people safe passage to the UK.

However, the number of people brought to Britain under those schemes fell between 2019 and 2021, from 5,606 to 1,171.

Refugees in other countries can also join their families in the UK via a Mandate scheme – but that route is said to be rarely used by the government and no refugees arrived via the scheme in the 12 months up to June 2021.

We have closed the ability to comment on this story due to the number of abusive and racist posts received on this topic.

We appreciate it is a very divisive issue but must ensure our comments adhere to house rules.