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Government data showed on Wednesday that the number of migrants arriving in the United Kingdom after crossing the English Channel rose by a quarter last year compared to the previous twelve months.
In total, 36,816 people arrived in Britain via small boats in 2024, a 25% increase on the 29,437 people who arrived in 2023, according to provisional figures published by the Home Office.
The number will increase pressure on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to tackle illegal immigration, after he pledged to “crush the gangs” that control the smuggling trade during last year's general election campaign.
Immigration and asylum are now the second most important issue for voters after the economy, ahead of health, according to a poll by research firm YouGov.
The latest total makes 2024 the second-highest year for canal crossings since data was first collected in 2018. However, it is down 20 per cent from the peak year in 2022, when 45,774 people arrived.
The final crossings took place on December 29, when 291 people made the journey from France on six boats. Bad weather conditions prevented crossing on the last two days of the year.
Former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was forced to admit he had failed on his promise to “stall the boats” after the Conservative Party suffered its worst ever election defeat last July.
In the first part of the year, until polling day on July 4, a record number of migrants crossed compared to similar periods in previous years.
Some 13,574 migrants arrived in the UK during that period, a 19 per cent increase on the same period the previous year and a 5 per cent increase on the same period in 2022, according to an analysis of Home Office data by the PA news agency.
Following Labour's landslide victory, the number of arrivals to the end of 2024 was also higher than the previous year but lower than the same period in 2022.
Last year was considered the deadliest for crossing the English Channel, according to data from the French Coast Guard Service. It found that 53 people died making the journey through the world's busiest shipping lane, and some campaign groups estimate that number is higher.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ministers had a moral responsibility to address Channel crossings, but she refused to set a deadline for the government's pledge to ensure numbers fall “sharply.”
Starmer insisted Labor had “inherited a very bad situation” from the previous Conservative administration, which he accused of focusing too much on a “gimmick” to turn away asylum seekers arriving on small boats in Rwanda.
Upon entry, Downing Street scrapped the controversial scheme before it was launched, shifting the UK's focus towards deeper cooperation with European allies and international law enforcement agencies.
The latest figures show an average of 53 migrants arrived per boat in 2024, four more than in 2023, and a sharp increase in 2018 when the average boat was carrying seven people.
The number of people arriving in the UK on small boats last year remained lower than those of Italy, Spain and Greece.
