UK Small Boat Crossings Hit 200,013 Over Nine Years as 70 Arrive Friday

The Home Office recorded 70 people arriving in the UK on Friday, taking the total number of small boat crossings to 200,013 in the last nine years. Calm weather allowed 70 people on one boat to complete the journey.

Successive governments have promised to cut migrant arrivals on this route and end the smuggling operations behind the dangerous trips. But the number of small boat arrivals has more than doubled in the last three years to hit this new milestone.

At least eight migrants have died attempting to cross the Channel by boat this year, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration and French authorities. Last year, 23 people were confirmed dead.

The government declared the rise in Channel crossings a major incident in 2018. Enhanced security at ports, crackdowns on other illegal routes, and organized gangs have reportedly driven the increase in small boat use.

The government has pointed to red days, when weather favors crossings, and more overcrowded boats in recent years. About 128,000 crossings occurred under Conservative governments from 2018 to 2024. Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to stop the boats in 2022, while Labour vowed to smash the smuggling gangs when Keir Starmer took power in 2024.

Since then, more than 72,000 people have entered the UK this way. Most travel from France and claim asylum, though not all receive it.

Crossings peaked in 2022 at more than 45,000 before falling several thousand the next year. The annual total has since climbed back to similar levels over the past three years. More than 7,380 people have crossed since January, 36 percent lower than the same period last year.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government is bearing down on small boat crossings. "The Home Secretary has signed a landmark new deal with France to boost enforcement action on beaches and put people smugglers behind bars," the spokesperson added. "This builds on joint work that has stopped over 42,000 illegal migrants attempting to cross the channel since the election. We have removed or deported almost 60,000 people who were here illegally and are going further to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to this country."

Arrivals from African nations have risen in the last year. People from Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia nearly tripled to 13,000 compared with 2024. Sudanese arrivals increased about 60 percent amid civil wars and political repression.

This shifts from prior years when most came from Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan due to oppression, economic hardship, and Taliban rule. Nearly all arrivals are under 40, with men and boys making up nine in 10 from 2018 to 2025. The share of women and girls has grown gradually, though young children and babies have crossed too. The government does not break down ages under 17 or over 40.

About 95 percent of small boat arrivals in the eight years to 2025 claimed asylum, per the Home Office. They accounted for a third of all claims in that period, including legal arrivals. By December last year, more than 108,000 applications had been processed, with three in five granted asylum.

These rates can shift. In 2022, 96 percent of Afghan applicants won asylum after the Taliban takeover, but by 2025 that fell to 33 percent following updated Home Office guidance on the security situation.