Although Downing Street claims that progress is being made in tackling the issue of boats, citing the lower number of arrivals compared with the same period last year, the data points to the high risks the country may face.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office at the end of July and became leader of the Labour Party, admitted that the British public want to see this migration issue “addressed.”
“Clearly, progress is being made,” Burnham said in Dover last week. “But we’re not complacent… It’s why I am here.”
The Labour party itself, having been elected in 2024, vowed to resolve the migration crisis. However, the reality turned out to be that, since 2024, the number of arriving boats has increased. It is also noteworthy that the current number of migrants per boat is more than ten times higher than it was in 2018, when the crisis was just beginning. At that time, the average number of migrants per boat was seven; as of August 2026, it stands at 72.
Regardless of the number of migrants who have reached the UK after crossing the English Channel this year being 40%Â lower than in the same period in 2025, recent trends could prove detrimental. Recently, it is not the usual small boats that have been spotted off the British coast, but vessels the size of a bus, carrying record numbers of passengers.
At the end of July, the Home Office said that a record number of migrants, 165 in total, had arrived in the UK on a single boat; however, this record did not last long, and on 4 August, French and British services rescued 173 people from a rubber dinghy that had caught fire.
In this regard, another challenge emerges related to the French police’ ineffectiveness in dealing with migrants seeking to set off for Britain from local beaches.Â
Notwithstanding that the French police themselves have described incidents involving more than 160 people on board as “alarming, unique and exceptional,” in reality the gendarmerie is failing to take the necessary measures, citing the danger of boarding or an “order” not to stop migrants attempting to set sail from the shore.
This is borne out by a number of incidents involving the French police and navy. However, a sensational report by the Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, confirmed that the French police “couldn’t care less” about migrants sailing to the UK. “Our orders are to let them go. We just have to tell them, ‘Don’t do that. It’s dangerous,'” one of the police officers said.
On the other hand, the reason for such large boats is the enormous profit they generate for the smugglers. For a single boat of this kind, carrying an average of 165 passengers, the smugglers make a profit of £330,000, as the cost of the journey is £2,000 per migrant.
The media are suggesting that the Labour government should listen to the advice of former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who managed to stop the boats. “We put them on unsinkable orange lifeboats with just enough fuel to make it back to Java and said, ‘That’s the way to go. See you later,'” he said, adding that the French “wouldn’t like it,” but “it’s an unfriendly act not cracking down on these people smuggling gangs” in northern France.
Meanwhile, the migration crisis is escalating and sparking discontent among residents due to crime and scandals.
Many point out that both refugees and migrants – whether they have only just arrived or have been living in the country for some time – abuse “the asylum system, ticking all the boxes once they get here when they submit their claim.” However, in Sheffield, a migrant from India attempted to marry a 13-year-old girl in order to obtain a British visa.
