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Number of migrants reaching UK in small boats in single day hits 2025 high

UK defence secretary laments ‘shocking’ scenes as the overall number of migrant crossings so far this year passes 14,800

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People thought to be migrants board a small boat leaving the beach at Gravelines, France, in an attempt to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel on Sunday. Photo: PA via dpa
Associated Press

UK government figures Sunday showed nearly 1,200 migrants arrived in the country Saturday in small boats from France across the English Channel, the highest number recorded on a single day so far this year.

The latest Home Office figures show that 1,194 migrants arrived in 18 boats on Saturday in what were settled weather conditions, bringing the provisional annual total so far to 14,811.

That is 42 per cent higher than the same point last year, an increase that has piled pressure on the Labour government, which returned to power nearly a year ago partly on disillusionment with the previous Conservative administration’s efforts to get a grip on the numbers making the crossing.

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Having ditched the Conservative government’s plan to send migrants who arrived in the UK by unauthorised means to Rwanda, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his government would get control by smashing the gangs and the business models that sustain their smuggling operations.
A group of people thought to be migrants leave the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: PA via dpa
A group of people thought to be migrants leave the beach at Gravelines, France, attempting to reach the UK by crossing the English Channel. Photo: PA via dpa
Since gaining power, Starmer’s government has sought better intelligence-sharing internationally, enhanced enforcement operations in northern France and has adopted tougher rules in its immigration legislation.
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