The large dinghy was pictured off the coast of France packed with people
ByDaniel Sexton and Simon JonesSouth East
A small boat has crossed the English Channel carrying 230 people, the largest-ever recorded number to make the journey in a single vessel.
The boat arrived in the UK in the early hours of Monday.
The 230 people on one boat breaks the previous record from July when 165 people made the crossing on a single vessel.
A Home Office spokesperson said this latest incident demonstrated the “reckless and dangerous tactics employed by criminal gangs… who continue to put lives at risk by cramming ever greater numbers of people onto unseaworthy vessels”.
Provisional Home Office figures for the number of people who have made the crossing this year so far is 14,819 – 43% lower than the number recorded by this time last year, and down 16% on the same period in 2024.
Earlier this month, more than 170 people were rescued after the boat they were using to make the crossing caught fire.
People smugglers have been increasing the number of migrants crammed into boats, with the average number of people per small boat increasing each year since the crossings began.
In 2018, there was an average of seven per boat but last year, that had risen to 62.
A large deflated dinghy was pictured on the quayside in Dover
The English Channel is one of the most dangerous, and busiest, shipping lanes in the world.
Many migrants come from some of the poorest and most chaotic parts of the world, and ask to claim asylum once they are picked up by the UK authorities.
On X, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “At 2.30am this morning a boat carrying 230 people was taken into Dover.
“This is a record number in a single vessel.
“It’s yet more proof that this illegal invasion is a national security emergency.”
Tap the questions below
How many people cross the English Channel in small boats?
Between 1 January and 8 August 2026, a total of 14,819 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France. This was down by 43% on the same period the previous year.
These crossings have become the most common way for people to be detected entering the UK illegally since 2020.
Nearly all those who arrive by small boat claim asylum. Under international law, this means they are allowed to stay in the country while their asylum application is considered.
Small boat arrivals made up 42% of asylum applications between April 2025 to March 2026.
Boats that arrived in the UK from 9 August 2025 to 8 August 2026 carried an average of 67 people. This has more than doubled since 2021.
Experts say overcrowding in boats makes crossings riskier. At least 84 people died while attempting to cross the Channel in 2024, according to the United Nations (UN).
When looking at the scale of small boats crossings, the number of these arrivals is about 5% of the size of total immigration into the UK from January 2025 to December 2025.
The government has pledged to “smash the gangs” behind these crossings in order to reduce the numbers.
Who is arriving in the UK on small boats?
People from Eritrea accounted for 18% of all arrivals from April 2025 to March 2026.
In the latest figures covering January 2025 to December 2025, at least 2,000 people who arrived by small boat were found to be potential victims of human trafficking or other forms of modern slavery, according to the Home Office.
How else do people stay in the UK without permission?
Another 4,535 people were detected entering the UK without permission via other methods including hiding in vehicles, travelling on ferries or through airports from April 2025 to March 2026. This was down by 22% on the same period the previous year.
There are also individuals who arrive legally, for example via a work or study visa, and then overstay their limit.
The total number of people who live in the UK illegally after arriving legally is not known.
‘We must go further’
On a recent visit to Dover, the prime minister pledged his government would be “relentless” in curbing the number of small boat arrivals.
Andy Burnham said enforcement officers tackling people-smuggling gangs had been doubled on both sides of the Channel, but “a system that offers safe routes for people” needed to be built as well.
In April, the UK and France struck a £662m (773m euro) deal aiming to address the issue.
The three-year agreement included plans to send riot-trained police to French beaches to tackle violence and “hostile crowds”, as well as France deploying millions of pounds of drones and two helicopters as part of a system to intercept people smugglers and illegal migrants.
Earlier on Monday, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We are making progress, with the number of small boat crossings down this year and the lowest number recorded for the month of July since 2020.
“But we must go further, which is why we have signed a payment-by-results deal with the French to put 40% more boots on the ground on French beaches.”
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