
Reported Spike in Small Boat Migrant Numbers as UK-France Border Deal Expires
Over 4,000 individuals have made a law-breaking undocumented Channel crossing since the start of 2026.

Over 4,000 individuals have made a law-breaking undocumented Channel crossing since the start of 2026.

Afghan asylum seeker carried out attack just four months after arriving in the UK, filming the assault and threatening the victim’s family

Good weather brings opportunist small-boat migrant arrivals, which the UK government thinks €58 million will help to stop.

More than 66,000 migrants have crossed since Labour took office, with enforcement efforts struggling to keep pace.

Only around 2% of small boat arrivals have been returned, as Channel crossings continue at high levels.

Police intercept migrants off De Haan as traffickers expand routes along the Flemish coast

Mounting Channel arrivals are pushing local services and finances to breaking point, prompting Kent councillors to consider unprecedented action.

Flanders police have reported a significant shift in migration patterns, as traffickers bypass France to take the longer, more perilous route from Belgium to the UK.

The patrols cost the British taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds, yet tens of thousands of migrants crossed the Channel last year alone.

Since Starmer took office, a weekly average of nearly 800 migrants arrived in England from France illegally.