Overview
- Government data published Thursday show 41,472 people crossed the Channel to the UK in 2025, the second-highest annual total since records began in 2018.
- AFP’s count records at least 29 deaths at sea linked to these journeys over the past year, highlighting the ongoing human toll.
- Under last summer’s UK–France arrangement, the Home Office reports 153 people have been returned to France and 134 admitted to the UK via a legal route.
- Asylum applications reached a record of more than 110,000 in the year to September 2025, adding pressure to an already strained system the government is seeking to tighten.
- The rise in crossings is intensifying political pressure on Keir Starmer as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK polls strongly and a September London rally led by Tommy Robinson drew up to 150,000 people.