More than 200,000 migrants are believed to have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since 2018, according to analysis of government figures. Dozens of migrants were seen arriving in Dover, Kent, on Friday morning, pushing the total number of arrivals since current records began to an estimated 200,000.
Press Association analysis of Home Office data from January 1, 2018, shows that as of Thursday, May 7, 199,943 people had arrived in the UK after making the crossing. The latest official figures are expected to confirm the milestone when they are published on Saturday.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticised the government, stating that the immigration system is “totally broken”. He said: “Labour are failing to remove illegal immigrants, so it is no wonder they keep flooding in, as they know they will almost certainly get to stay. Among them are many who go on to commit serious crimes, including murder, rape, and the sexual assault of young girls. This situation is a disgrace.”
A Home Office spokesperson responded: “This 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. 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.”
Two women died while trying to cross the Channel last Sunday, following six other fatalities in April. Successive governments have attempted to work with France to disrupt crossings and have revised asylum rules to deter people from making the dangerous journey.
Last month, Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year deal with Paris to pay £662 million to boost beach patrols amid efforts to curb crossings. She is also the latest Home Secretary to consider overhauling the asylum system to deter crossings and make deportations easier.
Under the current Labour Government, ministers scrapped the Conservatives’ multimillion-pound deal to send migrants who crossed the Channel from France to Rwanda. Only four volunteers were sent before the policy was abandoned. However, the move has sparked a legal battle, with Rwanda seeking to sue Britain for more than £100 million, claiming the UK breached the terms of the agreement. Lawyers for the UK deny this.
The number of migrants making the journey to the UK started at very low levels, with just 299 arrivals recorded in 2018. In December of that year, then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid cut short a Christmas break to return to the UK and declared a “major incident” after 45 migrants crossed the Channel on Christmas Day.
The annual total increased to 1,843 in 2019, then to 8,466 in 2020, 28,526 in 2021, and 45,774 in 2022, which remains the highest number in a calendar year to date. Arrivals fell to 29,437 in 2023, before rising to 36,816 in 2024 and 41,472 in 2025.
While the volume of migrants reaching the UK across the English Channel has varied from year to year, there has been a steady increase since 2018 in the number of people making the journey per boat. The average number of migrants per boat was seven in 2018, rising to 11 in 2019, 13 in 2020, 28 in 2021, 41 in 2022, 49 in 2023, 53 in 2024, and 62 in 2025. The average so far in 2026 is 64.
There is no official record of fatalities in the Channel, but 2024 appears to have been the deadliest year so far, with 50 deaths recorded by the French coastguard. At least 17 people died while attempting the journey in 2025, according to reports by French and UK authorities. The International Organisation for Migration has also reported more migrant deaths believed to be linked to crossing attempts. The first migrant known to have drowned while attempting the crossing was a 31-year-old Iranian woman, Mitra Mehrad, in August 2019.
