Channel crossings hit six-year summer low as smugglers switch to larger boats

Just 102 small vessels crossed the Channel between June and August, the lowest summer total since 2019. The Home Secretary says government action is beginning to "bear fruit".

Channel crossing numbers fall to lowest summer total since 2019

The number of small boats detected making the crossing from France to England fell to a six-year summer low between June and August, The Independent reports, with 102 vessels recorded over the three-month period — the lowest summer figure since 57 boats were counted in 2019.

A total of 7,371 people completed the crossing over those three months, marking the lowest overall summer total since 2020, when 3,307 arrived. August alone saw 2,313 individuals reach the UK, with Bank Holiday Monday figures not yet published.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed the data: "This Government is committed to restoring order at our border. This work is beginning to bear fruit, with June, July and August recording the lowest number of small boat crossings in seven years. But we know there is more to do."

Mahmood added that the government would remain "relentless in targeting the criminal gangs behind these crossings" and would continue removing incentives that draw migrants via "unsafe and illegal routes."

Despite the fall in vessel numbers, recent reports indicate that smuggling gangs have adapted their methods, loading larger numbers of migrants onto fewer but bigger craft — meaning the reduction in boats has not translated proportionally into fewer arrivals.

The Home Office credited a bilateral enforcement deal with France, which has increased French police activity along beaches in northern France. Since the 2024 general election, collaborative action has disrupted more than 48,000 crossing attempts, the department said. The National Crime Agency and international partners have also seized over 1,100 boats and engines in an effort to cut off supply lines.

Further measures are expected through the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which Mahmood intends to use to impose stricter controls. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron at Downing Street to discuss further joint steps to curb the crossings.

Source: The Independent