Channel migrant crossings hit 25,000 mark earlier than any year on record
Some 898 migrants made the journey in 13 boats on Wednesday, bringing the total for 2025 so far to 25,436, according to Home Office figures.
Small-boat arrivals this year are 51 per cent higher than at the same point in 2024, when the figure stood at 16,842, and 73 per cent higher than at the same point in 2023, when it was 14,732.
It is the highest number of asylum seekers to have reached the UK in the first seven months of the year since the first migrants reached the UK on small boats in 2018.
Last year the 25,000 mark was passed on Sept 22, and in 2023 it was Oct 2.
The first year in which at least 25,000 arrivals were recorded was 2022, when the milestone was passed on Aug 27. The total in that year went on to hit a record 45,774 by the end of December.
Modelling, first published by The Telegraph, has forecast that the number of illegal migrants will hit nearly 45,000 if the sea and weather conditions are as benign as they were in 2024.
Sir Keir Starmer is hoping that new measures announced in July after an Anglo-French summit with Emmanuel Macron, France's president, will reduce the number of projected crossings.
At the summit, the Prime Minister agreed a one in, one out deal with France. It would mean Channel migrants will be sent back to France in return for a similar number of asylum seekers. Ministers believe it will act as a deterrent.
The shadow home secretary has said that Channel crossings are 'now a national emergency'.
Reacting to the figures, Chris Philp said: 'Almost 900 people crossed the Channel yesterday, meaning 25,000 people, mainly young men, have crossed the Channel this year. 2025 is the worst year on record so far and the Labour Government are doing nothing to stop the crossings. This is now a national emergency.'
He also claimed that the UK's deal with France 'will not even make a dent'.
France is also preparing to introduce tougher tactics where officers from an elite police unit will intercept the people smugglers' boats at sea within 300 metres of the coast. They have also been experimenting with jet skis laying nets to snag the dinghies' propellers.
Last week, Sir Keir secured a pledge from Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor, that they will introduce a new law by the end of the year to enable police to seize boats for use by people smugglers in the Channel.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, also in July announced financial sanctions of two dozen people smugglers.
Labour has set up a new Border Security Command to oversee efforts by Border Force, police and intelligence agencies to target people smuggling gangs and disrupt the migrant, boat and equipment supply chains from outside and inside Europe.
On Thursday, the National Crime Agency announced that it had seized 25 inflatable boats from a lorry in Bulgaria that was destined for the Channel.
The seizure – the biggest single detection of small boats in 2025 – was made at the Kapitan Andreev checkpoint near the border with Greece and Turkey.
A Borders bill currently before Parliament will also give Border Force and police officers new counter-terror style powers to search and arrest suspected people smugglers and seize phones from migrants.
A new offence of endangering lives at sea with a jail term of up to five years will also target smugglers.
On Wednesday, pictures showed multiple boats arrive in Dover carrying people wearing life jackets. Others showed Border Force boats following each other into the port. They were filled with people standing on outside decking.
An RNLI lifeboat sailed two miles into French waters to rescue more than 90 migrants crammed on to a single dinghy, before bringing them back to Dover. Bad weather prevented any crossings on Thursday.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.'
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