Over 1,000 illegal migrants have crossed Channel to UK so far this year
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MORE than 1,000 illegal migrants have already crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year, hitting a new record. Home Office figures show 129 people made the journey in two boats on Tuesday, taking the provisional total for 2025 to 1,019. It means it has taken only 21 days since the start of the year for the treacherous crossings to top 1,000 — the soonest the milestone has been reached for any calendar year.
![[Migrants in a small boat at sea.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/migrants-wait-help-abeille-languedoc-945110991.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
In 2022 — a record year for small boat crossings — the number arriving in the UK after making the journey did not reach 1,000 until January 23. Last year, the total reached 1,000 on January 28, analysis of Government data since the migrant crisis began in 2018 shows.
By this time last year, 621 people had crossed the Channel in inflatables compared with 280 in 2023 and 963 in 2022. The crossings continued yesterday, with people wearing lifejackets pictured being brought ashore from a Border Force boat in Dover, Kent.
