LONDON, Dec 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Migrants resumed attempts to cross the English Channel to reach Britain on Saturday, four weeks after the last small boat arrived.

An interior minister spokesperson condemned the crossings as "shameful", adding: "The British people deserve better."

The recent pause in crossings -- believed to be due to poor weather conditions -- is the longest in seven years.

Before the weekend, no vessels had reached the southern English coast for 28 days, according to interior ministry figures.

Migrants last arrived on the south coast from northern France on November 14.

Figures for how many arrived on Saturday, when a number of small boats were seen in the Channel, will be released later.

The number of migrants taking the perilous route to the UK has become a major political issue in Britain.

The crossings are helping fuel the popularity of Reform, led by anti-immigration firebrand Nigel Farage, which has led Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.

This year looks likely to see the second-highest annual number of migrants arriving in small boats since data was first reported in 2018.

More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived on small boats this year -- more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record of 45,774 arrivals set in 2022, when the Conservatives were in power.

The interior ministry spokesperson said the government was "taking action" on the issue.

"The Home Secretary (interior minister) has announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in decades, removing the incentives that bring illegal migrants to the UK and scaling up the return of those with no right to be here," the spokesperson added.