Record Channel Crossings in 2025 Prompt UK Government to Introduce Stricter Asylum and Border Security Measures
In 2025, 41,472 people arrived in the UK via Channel crossings in small boats, marking the second-highest annual total on record after 45,774 in 2022. This figure represented a 13% increase from 2024, with crossings remaining at record highs for much of the year before slowing in the final two months.
The Home Office described the number as "shameful" and reported that nearly 50,000 individuals illegally present in the UK had been removed. They highlighted a new deal with France aimed at returning those arriving by boat to deter further crossings.
As part of efforts to address the crisis, Keir Starmer's 2024 campaign pledge to "smash the gangs" led to securing a one-in, one-out returns agreement with France in 2025-2026. Additionally, the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act passed in December introduced new offences and counterterrorism-style powers for law enforcement to combat people-smuggling gangs.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced further asylum reforms whereby refugee status would be temporary and subject to reviews every 30 months, with a 20-year wait introduced for permanent settlement—a significant increase from the previous five years.
Reactions to the government's approach varied. Nigel Farage called the plans a disaster. The Labour party argued that the measures were merely cosmetic, while Conservative MP Chris Philp contended that withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) would reduce crossings. Meanwhile, Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, acknowledged that stopping Channel crossings was appropriate but criticized the punitive refugee rules as unfair and unlikely to deter those fleeing oppression.
