More migrants arrive in Dover as whole passes 5,000 for the 12 months – the earliest the overall has been hit since trendy data started
Around 150 migrants have arrived in Dover after crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Pictures show the group, who were rescued from out at sea, being escorted into the dock by Border Force on Saturday.
It comes as the total number of migrants who have arrived in the UK this year by crossing the English Channel topped 5,000.
Some 341 people made the journey in six boats on Thursday, bringing the provisional total for the year so far to 5,025.
This is the earliest point in the calendar that crossings have reached the 5,000 mark since data was first reported in 2018. Last year, 5,000 arrivals was passed on March 31.
The cumulative number of arrivals so far in 2025 – 5,025 – is 24 per cent higher than at this stage in 2024, when the figure stood at 4,043, and 36 per cent higher than at this point in 2023.
The highest number arriving in one day this year so far stands at 592 people, crossing the Channel in 11 boats on March 2.
The latest figures come as Europol said it had arrested six people suspected of being part of a migrant smuggling network active across the English Channel.
Around 150 migrants have arrived in Dover after crossing the English Channel in small boats
Border Force escort 150 migrants into Dover Docks, Kent on Saturday morning
Pictures show the group, who were rescued from out at sea, being escorted into the dock by Border Force on Saturday
The group based in Germany was allegedly involved in the smuggling of Middle Eastern and East African migrant to the UK in low-quality inflatable boats.
German police raided 11 locations on March 19, seizing 90 life vests, jerrycans, two firearms and more than 47 electronic devices.
The criminal network, active since 2023, transported nautical equipment from storage spaces in Germany to France.
This week, the French coastguard confirmed two migrants died in two days trying to cross the Channel on Wednesday and Thursday.
One person died after being pulled from the water while the other person died after trying to cross in an overloaded boat, despite rescue efforts to save them.
The UK signed a ‘road-map’ agreement with France earlier this month aimed at bolstering co-operation to tackle people smuggling across the Channel.
The Government’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill also continues through Parliament with plans to introduce new criminal offences and hand counter terror-style powers to police and enforcement agencies to crack down on people smuggling gangs.
A group of people thought to be migrants at the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, following a small boat incident in the Channel
Migrants are seen arriving in a Border Force vessel at Dover on Saturday
Pictures show the group, who were rescued from out at sea, being escorted into the dock by Border Force on Saturday
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
‘The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.’
A Number 10 spokesman said on Friday: ‘We’ve acknowledged that there is a flow of migrants into this country by illegal means on small boats and we’ve seen a number of incidents in this week in French waters.
‘That’s why this Government has put forward a serious credible plan to finally restore order to the chaos we inherited in our asylum system.’
