The number of illegal migrants arriving in the UK on dinghies or other makeshift vehicles (“small boats”), recorded daily since 2018, surpassed 200,000 people last week.
The number means that, on average, 66 migrants have crossed the channel every day since the small boats’ crisis began in 2018.
The statistic highlights the UK’s continued struggle with immigration, arriving shortly after the terrorist threat level was raised to “severe” following antisemitic attacks by a Somali-born man in the country’s capital.
Contentious Issue
The Home Office and Border Force have kept continuous watch on small boat arrivals since the beginning of 2018, releasing data every seven days about the number of migrants and boats that have arrived.
According to our analysis of the data available as of 11 May 2026, the 200,000 mark was surpassed on 9th May, when 196 migrants arrived on 3 boats. This means that the number of people arriving via illegal means into the UK since 2018 equals the population of Norwich, according to The Sun.
Figures were published amid council elections in England and parliamentary elections in both Scotland and Wales, where immigration was a watershed issue for voters.
Immigration has long been a central battleground, causing a headache for both Conservative and Labour leaders. The debate heated up in recent years, pushing many voters towards the far-right, as Labour’s opponents say the government has “no control of our borders.” Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf has declared: “This isn’t migration; it’s an invasion enabled by the weak, feeble leadership of successive Conservative and Labour governments.”
Labour promised to “smash the gangs” in their 2024 election campaign. Shortly after coming to power, Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the controversial Rwanda deal and reworked the Global Britain mindset into a more controlled form of migration. New border control measures and asylum system were meant to make the UK less desirable as a destination, while the One-in-One-out deal was struck to stop departures from French shores.
What the Numbers Say
According to the data, under Keir Starmer’s government 72,024 migrants arrived in the UK, compared to 127,896 under the consecutive Conservative governments of Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak.
That means that under Conservative years, around 54 migrants arrived daily, while under Labour, this number was almost 107.
While it would be easy to assume this is solely due to government policies, global migration and displacement have both been rising, with restrictions pushing more onto irregular routes, like the Channel crossing.
Just this year, 7310 people crossed into the UK, compared to 11,516 during the same period last year.
According to the Migration Observatory, citizens of six countries – Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria, and Eritrea – made up 65% of people crossing in small boats between 2018 and 2025.
Deportation Seen as Key
Many people arriving through the Channel apply for asylum, and many believe that the key to reducing the numbers is to deport those who arrive almost immediately.
“The immigration system is totally broken. Small boat arrivals are up 45 percent since the election. 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,” Chris Philp, the Conservative’s shadow home secretary, said.
Article 8 of the European Court of Justice (ECHR) is considered a barrier to deportation on the grounds of human rights, including non-refoulement, meaning that a person cannot be deported back into danger. Reform UK has been the loudest supporter of the UK leaving the ECHR to allow faster deportations, with some even calling their policy more extreme than US President Trump’s.
Others disagree: a report by Oxford’s Faculty of Law is just one saying that deportation cases appealed successfully based on the ECHR are “exceptional” in practice.
