ONLY three per cent of small boat migrants have been deported since 2018, figures show. More than 8,000 extra arrivals are in hotels since last year’s election and asylum claims have hit a high. Ministers have been urged to find a way to stop the waves of Channel migrants costing taxpayers billions of pounds.
![[Migrants in an inflatable boat attempting to cross the English Channel.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2024-attempting-cross-english-channel-945147352_876f78.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Statistics show just 4,995 of the 147,849 small boat arrivals since 2018 have been kicked out. The rooms occupied figure rose from 29,585 to 38,079 in the second half of 2024 — at a cost of about £4.5million a day. By December, 112,187 asylum seekers were taking government accommodation and subsistence.
Asylum claims rose 18 per cent in 2024 to 108,000. The previous high, in 2002, was 103,000. And 162,000 migrants were granted settled status last year. Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “With no deterrent, and an obsession with rewarding criminal migrants with British passports, today’s figures are no surprise.
"Despite promising to end hotel usage for asylum seekers, the numbers are up again and they are costing Britons dear . . . waves of illegals crossing the Channel.”. Border Minister Dame Angela Eagle said Labour inherited a “broken asylum system”, adding that 19,000 illegal immigrants had been removed since July.
