Overview
- Migration Watch counts more than 181,000 people intercepted crossing since December 2018, surpassing the roughly 180,779 serving personnel in the Army, Royal Navy and RAF, with nearly nine in ten arrivals male and about two-thirds aged 18–39.
- Provisional 2025 figures report 31,027 crossings so far, well ahead of the same point last year and within about 5,000 of the full-year total for 2024.
- The Home Office says the new UK–France arrangement allows those arriving illegally to be detained and removed to France, with first returns expected soon, though no removals have yet occurred under the pilot.
- Local services remain under strain as thousands are housed in hotels, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is considering shifting people into former military barracks to cut costs.
- Recent developments include four reported deaths in two incidents this week and the first un-intercepted landing on a Kent beach since 2022, intensifying pressure on the government response.