More than 2,000 people have crossed the Channel this week, new figures reveal, as the UK and France hope to agree on a fresh solution in the coming week.
The Home Office said 517 migrants made the crossing via eight small boats on Friday, 4 July.
This follows 879 people arriving on Monday, 440 on Tuesday and 178 on Wednesday. No crossings were made on Thursday.
Small boat crossings have reached record highs this year, with nearly 20,000 people having made the journey in 2025 so far – an increase of 56 per cent on the same point last year according to the PA news agency.
This comes as the UK and France hope to agree to new plans to reduce the numbers of migrants crossing the Channel at a summit next week.
One plan thought to be under discussion is a so-called “one in one out” agreement where a system would be established to identify asylum seekers who could come to the UK and vise versa.
Another initiative, is to allow French police officers to intercept boats taxing up to 300 metres from the shore rather than only to intervene if asylum seekers are at risk.
As revealed by The i Paper last month, France is to demand more cash from the taxpayers to intercept small boats which smugglers now launch before asylum seekers wade into the water and get on board.
Experts say the spike in crossings is due to several factors including; an extended period of warmer, dry weather, new tactics used by smugglers, escalating global conflict and data-sharing policies with the EU which have expired due to Brexit.
A BBC News film crew captured the moment French police slashed the boats of migrants heading from France to England (Photo: BBC)On Friday, the BBC shared footage of French police slashing an inflatable boat packed with people which was about to set off for the English coast.
The move is highly unusual, with police usually bound by rules which forbid them from approaching the boat when it is already in the water.
Downing Street described the intervention as a “significant moment”.
“We welcome action from French law enforcement to take action in shallow waters, and what you have seen in recent weeks is a toughening of their approach,” a spokesperson said.
“We are seeing new tactics being used to disrupt these boats before they begin their journey and, together with every other lever that the Government is pulling, we think this can have a major impact on shutting down the tactics these gangs use.”
Care4Calais, a charity supporting asylum seekers in northern France, described the incident as “shameful” and warned the tactic would “put lives at risk, including the lives of children”.
French gendarme drive a buggy near migrants boarding a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel off the beach of Hardelot in Neufchatel-Hardelot, northern France on June 30. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)Last year, 99 per cent of those crossing sought asylum, meaning they request refuge in the UK on the grounds of persecution or threat in their own country.
To claim asylum in the UK, a person must be physically in the UK. There is no visa to travel to the UK to make an asylum claim.
It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 20,000 mark has been passed since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
Last year, over 20,000 migrants crossed the Channel on 28 August, and in 2023 it was 29 August.
The first year in which at least 20,000 arrivals were recorded was 2022, when the milestone was passed on 14 August, and the total went on to hit a record 45,774 by the end of December.
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden told LBC on Wednesday “everyone in Government knows it’s a big challenge”.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said: “We are going to have to work harder to bring the numbers down.
“Everyone in Government knows it’s a big challenge, and as a team we are determined to meet it.”
Crackdown on migrants in gig economy
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a nationwide immigration “enforcement crackdown” which the Government says will target illegal working in the gig economy.
Officers will carry out checks in hotspots across the country where they suspect asylum seekers are working as delivery riders without permission.
It comes after Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat said they would ramp up facial verification and fraud checks over the coming months after conversations with ministers.
Last week the shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, claimed in a post on X to have found evidence of people working illegally for the food delivery firms during a visit to a hotel used to house asylum seekers.
On Saturday, the Home Office said anyone caught “flagrantly abusing the system in this way” will face having state support discontinued, whether entitlement to accommodation or payments.
“Strategic, intel-driven activity will bring together officers across the UK and place an increased focus on migrants suspected of working illegally whilst in taxpayer-funded accommodation or receiving financial support,” the Home Office said.
“The law is clear that asylum seekers are only entitled to this support if they would otherwise be destitute.”
Businesses who illegally employ people will also face fines of up to £60,000 per worker, director disqualifications and potential prison sentences of up to five years.
Asylum seekers in the UK are normally barred from work while their claim is being processed, though permission can be applied for after a year of waiting.
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