A total of 1,360 migrants crossed irregularly to the United Kingdom by small boat across the Channel in the last five days, according to the latest data released this Thursday by the British Home Office. The migrants arrived in the UK illegally via the channel and in small boats between December 13 and 17, bringing the total for 2025 so far to 40,652 people. The day with the highest number of arrivals, last Saturday, saw 737 people reach the UK after crossing the sea passage in 11 boats, breaking a streak of 28 days with no recorded boat crossings, the longest period without entries since 2018. The Home Office also recorded a significant increase in arrivals to British shores on Wednesday, when 497 people crossed the Channel in nine boats in a single day. These figures bring the current year closer to the record year of 2022, when 45,755 arrivals were recorded. The figures for 2025, with still two weeks left in the year, already far surpass those of the previous two years – 36,816 entries in 2024 and 29,347 in 2023 – despite the toughening of migration policies carried out by the current Labour government of Keir Starmer. Irregular migration, as well as the fight against criminal gangs of migrant traffickers, has been one of Starmer's main battles, which he has tried to address, among other things, with a reciprocal repatriation agreement with France or by accelerating deportations. At the same time, illegal immigration has become the main battleground for the political right, especially for UK Reform, the far-right party created by Nigel Farage, which currently leads in voting intention polls. Photo EFE.
