Channel crossings over the summer have hit a six-year low, with nearly 7,000 small-boat arrivals between June and August.
The number of small-boat migrant arrivals decreased to its seasonal lowest since 2020, with 6,949 crossing the Channel in the three summer months. The number of boats arriving in Britain fell to its lowest since 2019.
While critics have put the decrease down to bad weather, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood attributed the drop to increased international co-operation blocking people smugglers’ supply chain for boats, lifebelts and outboard motors.
She also credited a £662million deal with France to place more officers on beaches and take on new interception tactics.
A total of 16,391 migrants have crossed from France to the UK so far this year, down 43 per cent on the same time last year, and an 18 per cent decrease on the same period in 2024.
Ms Mahmood said: ‘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.
‘We will be relentless in targeting the criminal gangs behind these crossings, and we will continue to remove the incentives that draw people here on unsafe and illegal routes.’
Small-boat crossings will be one of the main issues discussed when Andy Burnham hosts French President Emmanuel Macron in No 10 for the first time, according to officials.
A group of people believed to be migrants are brought to the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent, on Thursday
The Prime Minister will be eager to continue the one-in, one-out scheme with France, designed to act as a deterrent to crossings.
August crossings – up to August 30 – were down 46 per cent on last year, falling to their lowest level since records began in 2018.
July saw the fewest number of crossings since 2019, down 64 per cent on 2025.
And June recorded its lowest level of crossings since 2019, down 50 per cent on last year.
However, Labour’s attempts to tackle the Channel crisis were still branded a ‘complete laughing stock’ earlier this month after a record 230 migrants arrived on one dinghy.
The huge number – more than the capacity of a Boeing 737 jet – crossed from France on August 10, prompting the Conservatives to taunt Ms Mahmood for ‘presiding over a complete and utter farce’.
Measuring 49ft from bow to stern, it was 7ft larger than vessels which set previous records in July, and more than 10ft longer than a standard double-decker bus.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Labour’s weak attempts at fixing the Channel crisis have turned the UK into a complete laughing stock. Shabana Mahmood is presiding over a complete and utter farce.
‘She’s handing over £660million of our money to the French, who are pathetically standing around on the beaches while hundreds of migrants embark on massive dinghies.’
Labour’s attempts to tackle the Channel crisis were branded a ‘complete laughing stock’ this month after a record 230 migrants arrived on one dinghy
He also criticised the gendarmes’ inability to halt such a behemoth, adding: ‘This is now beyond a joke. The French authorities could easily have stopped a vessel this size from embarking in shallow waters.’
French police launched an investigation last week after a migrant was found dead and three others were wounded on a small boat that was still allowed by authorities to continue on its voyage to the UK.
The dead man was a 34-year-old Afghan national who died on Friday, despite being airlifted to hospital.
Another man was stabbed, and two women burned on the same boat, but 45 of the 72 originally on board were still transported to England, and taken into the care of UK authorities.
A spokesman for France’s Maritime Prefecture said on Saturday: ‘Early on the morning of August 28, the Ridens [rescue vessel] picked up 72 migrants requesting assistance.
‘During the rescue, the vessel discovered one person in the boat suffering from cardiac arrest and three others who were wounded.’
A helicopter was used to transport the injured back to France but a doctor ‘pronounced the individual dead upon arrival’, said the spokesman.
He added: ‘The boat continued its journey towards the United Kingdom, and its remaining 45 occupants were eventually picked up by a British rescue boat.’
They were among more than 500 migrants who reached Britain on Thursday and Friday, following a long period of bad weather that prevented successful crossings.
