Daily Boat Immigrant Arrivals Top 1,000 for 1st Time This Year

So far this year, 14,812 people illegally entered the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats, which is 42 percent higher than this time last year.

A group of immigrants onboard a small boat leaving the beach attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel, in Gravelines, France, on May 31, 2025. Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

More than 1,100 illegal immigrants have arrived by crossing the English Channel, the highest number recorded in a single day this year.

Provisional Home Office figures show 1,195 people arrived on Britain’s shores in 19 small boats on Saturday, the highest total so far in 2025 and the first time this year the number exceeded 1,000 in one day. The previous highest figure was 825, recorded on May 21.

So far in 2025, 14,812 people have illegally entered the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats. According to analysis of the data by The Epoch Times, this is 42 percent higher than this time last year, when a total of 10,448 had arrived. It is also nearly double the number of arrivals by May 31, 2023, when 7,610 had landed.

Saturday’s figures remain below the daily record of 1,305 set on Sept. 3, 2022, which was a year that saw the highest number boat landings overall. In total, of 45,755 people had arrived in 2022, with similarly high daily figures recorded on Oct. 9 (1,241) and Nov. 12 (1,214).

Landings so far this year are also higher than the number who had arrived by May 31, 2022 (9,607), which suggests 2025 could be another record year, unless government efforts to stop the boats and tackle the smuggling gangs are successful.

A total of 165,590 people have crossed the English Channel to enter the UK since record-keeping for this type of illegal immigration began in 2018.

Undermining Border Security

A Home Office spokesperson said the government wants to end dangerous small boat crossings, “which threaten lives and undermine our border security.”

“Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders,” the spokesperson said.

Since coming to power in July 2024, the Labour government has taken a different approach to tackling illegal immigration compared with its Conservative predecessors. Notably, it scrapped the Rwanda Plan, which aimed to send asylum seekers who arrived illegally to safe third countries like Rwanda, a policy the previous administration argued would deter people from making the cross-Channel journey.

The Conservatives had also made agreements with the EU and its member states—namely France—to cooperate on operations and methods to stop the people smuggling gangs, as part of its plans to stop the boats.

Similarly, the Labour government continues to work with international and European partners to “smash the gangs,” by disrupting their supply chains and prosecuting smugglers.

UK Working With France

The Labour government has since founded the cross-agency Border Security Command, which will take a counter-terrorism style approach to tackling illegal immigration gangs through enhanced powers to be granted to law enforcement through the borders bill currently making its way through Parliament.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow, on June 2, 2025. Andy Buchanan/PA Wire

Giving a major defence speech in Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that “nobody should be making that journey across the Channel, and it’s our duty to make sure that we ensure that they don’t.”

Starmer said his government was working closely with French counterparts on taking further action in northern France, which is where most of the boats depart from.

Asked about the Rwanda Plan, the prime minister said, “The reason we stood down the Rwanda scheme was because it cost a fortune, and only a handful of people went on a voluntary basis to Rwanda, and it didn’t deter anybody.”

“I’m not up for gimmicks. I’m up for the hard work of working with partners, enhancing the powers that law enforcement have in my determination to take down the gangs that are running this vile trade,” he added.

Home Office figures revealed in December that the Rwanda Plan had cost £715 million and resulted in just four volunteers being sent to the African country.

However, the UK is in talks with several Balkan nations about setting up “return hubs“ for failed asylum seekers, which Starmer said in May would work to complement other efforts to tackle illegal immigration.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp had called the proposals a “weak imitation” of the Rwanda policy.