UK migrant arrivals on small boats reach new record

LONDON: A record 28,076 migrants have crossed the Channel to Britain in small boats this year, a 46% rise on the same period in 2024, government data showed on Monday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his handling of immigration.

The sharp increase comes amid mounting public concern over immigration, which is polling as the public’s top concern, with anti-migrant protests continuing outside hotels housing asylum seekers.

The record was reached on Sunday after 212 migrants arrived in four different boats that day, the data showed.

The Home Office, or interior ministry, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Demonstrations took place across Britain over the weekend following a court ruling last week that ordered the removal of asylum seekers from a hotel in Epping, north-east of London, the latest flashpoint in the immigration debate.

Starmer’s Labour government has pledged to phase out hotel use by 2029 and to overhaul the asylum system. On Sunday it announced reforms to speed up asylum appeals and reduce a backlog of more than 100,000 cases.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the country’s interior minister, said the changes were aimed at restoring “control and order” to a system she described as “in complete chaos”.

Official data last week showed asylum claims were at a record high, with more migrants being housed in hotels compared with a year ago.

Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party that has topped recent surveys of voting intentions, outlined plans for “mass deportations” of migrants arriving by small boats.

These would include taking Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights, barring asylum claims, and building detention centres for 24,000 people.

He told The Times newspaper he would strike repatriation deals with countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea, and arrange daily deportation flights.