A small boat carrying 230 people crossed the English Channel to the UK over the weekend, setting a record for the number of people making the crossing in a single vessel.
The boat arrived in the UK in the early hours of Monday, surpassing the previous record set in July, when 165 people crossed the Channel in a single vessel.
A Home Office spokesperson told the BBC that 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."
Despite the record number aboard the single vessel, overall Channel crossings have declined this year.
14,820 people have reached the UK by small boat so far, according to provisional Home Office data cited by the BBC, representing a 43 percent drop year on year and a 16 percent decline compared with the same time in 2024.
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.
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.
When looking at the scale of small boats crossings, the number of these arrivals is about 5 percent of the size of total immigration into the UK from January 2025 to December 2025.
