London, 2 August 2022 (dpa/MIA) - Almost 700 migrants crossed the English Channel to reach British shores in a single day, a record for the year so far. Some 696 made the journey in 14 boats on Monday, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. This is the highest number on a single day so far this year, and only the second time in 2022 the daily figure has topped 600. The previous highest number was 651 recorded on April 13. The latest crossings saw large groups of people, including young children, brought ashore in Ramsgate before leaving the Kent port on double-decker buses. The data suggests there was an average of around 50 on each boat that day. More than 17,000 people have arrived in the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats such as dinghies so far in 2022, according to government figures. Some 3,683 migrants made the crossing on 90 boats in July, the highest monthly total this year, PA news agency analysis of the figures shows. Journeys took place on 20 out of 31 days. It is more than three months since British Home Secretary Priti Patel unveiled plans to send migrants to Rwanda to try to deter people from crossing the Channel. Since then, 11,827 have arrived in the UK after making the journey. On April 14 Patel signed what she described as a "world-first" agreement with Rwanda under which the east African nation will receive migrants deemed by the UK to have arrived "illegally" and are therefore inadmissible under new immigration rules. But the first deportation flight, due to take off on June 14, was grounded amid legal challenges. Several asylum seekers, the Public and Commercial Services union and charities Care4Calais, Detention Action and Asylum Aid are challenging the legality of the Home Office policy, with the next court hearings due in September and October.