Overview
- Government figures show 36,954 people have reached the UK by small boat in 2025, already exceeding last year’s total.
- Since the one‑for‑one return agreement took effect in early August, the Home Office reports 42 people sent back to France and 23 accepted to the UK.
- A man returned to France under the pact crossed back to England by boat and is in UK detention, with The Guardian reporting he intends to claim asylum and alleges trafficking in northern France.
- London has announced sanctions against Balkan smuggling networks that facilitate clandestine journeys to the UK.
- Britain is pressing France to permit maritime interceptions of small ‘taxi‑boats’ up to 300 metres from the French coast, as officials tally at least 27 deaths linked to crossings this year.