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The number of people arriving in the UK via small boats soared to almost 20,000 in the first half of 2025, underscoring the severe challenge facing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who has pledged to reduce irregular migration to Britain.
A total of 19,982 people have crossed over to Britain on small boats since January, setting a record for the first six months of the year, according to official data.
There were 13,489 arrivals on small boats in the first six months of 2024, the previous highest figure for this period.
In the same period in 2022, the previous highest record year, 12,750 people arrived in the first six months.
The rising number of arrivals is a major concern for the prime minister, who has vowed to “smash the gangs” bringing people across the Channel on small boats.
Starmer has argued that his experience dealing with terrorists and drug gangs while he was director of public prosecutions stood him in good stead to tackle the entrenched problem.
Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK has made tackling small boats its principal policy focus and has vowed to deport every single migrant who arrives in the UK illegally.
Starmer is, meanwhile, seeking to finalise a pilot exchange agreement with the French government, under which for each small boat arrival sent back to France, Britain would take from France one asylum seeker with a case for family reunification.
The prime minister is also fighting off a major challenge to his authority this week as dozens of MPs prepare to rebel against his flagship package of welfare reforms.
Starmer has also pledged to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this parliament. As of March of this year, there were 32,345 migrants accommodated in hotels, down from a peak of 56,042 in September 2023.
About three-quarters of those arriving in the UK are men, while about 14 per cent are children. This has been pounced on by rightwing groups, including Reform UK, which have described arrivals as “fighting-age men”.
However, the Migration Observatory think-tank at Oxford university has noted that men often arrive in the UK first and are then joined by family members later through family reunification programmes.
People who arrive by small boats in the UK make up about 33 per cent of the total number of asylum claimants, while 40 per cent are people who have previously arrived in the UK on a work, study or visitor visa, according to Home Office data.
The highest number of arrivals in the 12 months to March of this year came from Afghanistan, followed by Syria, Eritrea, Iran and Sudan. In particular, 2025 has seen a surge in arrivals from Eritrea, which has been teetering on the brink of a major conflict.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that “one year into Labour’s government and the boats haven’t stopped — they’ve multiplied”, adding that “this is the worst year on record, and it’s become a free for all”.
“We need a removal deterrent so every single illegal immigrant who arrives is removed to a location outside Europe. The crossings will then rapidly stop,” he said.
