More than 1,200 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats during a week-long heatwave in Britain.
The calm conditions in the waterway as temperatures reached 35ºC over the May bank holiday weekend prompted asylum seekers to make the journey after a period of almost two weeks with no crossings.
According to Home Office figures, 1,202 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel between Friday and Wednesday.
Latest data shows 74 asylum seekers made the journey on a single boat on Wednesday, taking the total number of arrivals so far this year to 8,778 people.
This represents a 36 per cent drop compared with on this time last year, and a 17 per cent fall compared to 2024.
Despite the recent arrivals, the British government says it is making progress in clamping down on human trafficking.
The Home Office said disruptions to criminal smuggling activity, including arrests, convictions and seizures of illicit cash and assets, are up by almost 50 per cent in the year ending in March.
Three small boat pilots were arrested over the weekend and charged with endangering life at sea, a new offence that was introduced in January. They were sentenced to a total of two years in prison.
Sarah Dineley, the chief prosecutor for England and Wales, said the “cases were charged within hours over this bank holiday weekend, which meant defendants were brought before a court within days of arriving in the UK”.
“These boats are overcrowded and people’s lives are being put at risk in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world,” she added.
Last year, 41,472 people crossed the English Channel to the UK – the second highest annual figure on record, 9 per cent below the 2022 high of 45,774.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has made halting small boat crossings a priority,
In April, Britain signed a three-year agreement worth £660 million ($891 million) for France to prevent people from making the journey.
Under the agreement, which is set to take effect shortly, riot police will be stationed on French beaches. Some of the funds payable are contingent on the success of the operation.
Drone and camera surveillance will also be increased on beaches in northern France, and helicopter patrols will take place. The number of police, intelligence and military personnel stationed on the beaches will rise from 750 to almost 1,100.
Public perception in Britain that the immigration system is not functioning as intended has led to a surge in support for the far-right Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage. The party has pledged to deport 600,000 people from the UK.
Under an agreement signed last year, the UK is permitted to send people who cross the Channel back to France in exchange for accepting asylum seekers with ties to Britain on a “one in, one out” basis.
