When a group of people arriving aboard an RNLI lifeboat, including infants and little children, the migrant offers two thumbs up.

Groups of young men, women and children – including babies – were pictured being transported to land on the Kent coast by the RNLI on Wednesday morning, as the total number to arrive by small boats this year nears 30,000.

People wearing winter coats, some carrying youngsters, climbed down a ladder from a packed RNLI lifeboat and on to the beach. They then boarded buses and were taken to be processed.

The number of arrivals so far suggests the 30,000 milestone could be reached by the end of the day.

It comes as 93 people were brought into the harbour at Dover on Tuesday in four boards, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The latest official numbers take the total for the year to 29,809 so far compared to 28,526 for the whole of 2021. In 2020 there were just 8,410 people who made the crossing.

Windy conditions had prevented migrants from risking the treacherous journey since last Thursday when 617 asylum seekers were intercepted. But calmer conditions in the last two days has enabled crossings to resume.

And last month, Government officials said it was remarkable there had not been any drownings or other serious incidents so far this year as the average number of people per boat rose to 44, compared to 28 in 2021.

The first two weeks of September alone saw 4,056 people arrive in 96 boats, and more were expected to risk the perilous journey this week amid better weather conditions at sea.

In 2021 there were 28,526 migrants detained in what was then a record compared to 8,410 in 2020.

But 2022 became an official record year after the MoD confirmed 601 people had arrived in the UK on September 12 – taking the total to 28,561.

The issue will be among the top priorities for new Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who replaced Priti Patel when Liz Truss became prime minister.

She is said to be deliberately reaching out to Home Office staff in a bid to have a ‘clean break’ from her predecessor’s ‘challenging’ tenure, which saw Ms Patel’s leadership mired by claims of bullying before a Cabinet Office inquiry found she had broken the ministerial code – only holding onto her position because the then-PM Boris Johnson rejected the findings.

Civil servants told the Times that Ms Braverman has ‘gone out of her way’ to show that she will respect staff.

It comes after morale reached ‘rock bottom’ following the Home Office’s failed bid to fly migrants to Rwanda – with one mandarin comparing it to Nazi Germany in an internal Q&A on the controversial policy.

However Ms Braverman has told staff she will ‘double down’ on the plans.

One Tory MP told the Times: ‘She’s as rightwing as Priti, but cleverer. Priti was affected by her experience at the Home Office over the Rutnam thing — a lot of baggage.

‘Once that happened, she was always in a difficult situation because why would the Home Office want her to succeed? [Braverman] is not unaware of the scale of that problem, though. She’s very aware that she’ll have to be very decisive in order to get what she wants done.’

Ms Braverman previously told allies that she wants to substantially increase the use of detention facilities in Britain to house migrants arriving to the Kent coast.

Natalie Elphicke MP for Dover said: ‘The numbers of arrivals are deeply concerning. It’s vital to see the small boats crisis brought to an end as the seas will become colder and rougher as we head into Autumn and Winter.

‘Action is needed now to avoid further tragic loss of life on the English Channel.’