Record 128 migrants cross English Channel in single small boat
A total of 225 people made the perilous Channel crossing on Friday
A small boat crossed the English Channel on Friday carrying 128 people, the largest number to make the journey in a single vessel.
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A total of 225 people made the perilous Channel crossing on Friday, July 10, using three boats, according to data released by the Home Office.
Some 128 of those people were in one boat, beating the previous record number in a single vessel of 125 people, from September 2025.
The figure is indicative of smuggling gangs “taking greater risks than ever, with the number of people they are cramming into unseaworthy boats rising year on year,” a Home Office spokesperson told the broadcaster.
Despite the record number in a single boat having been surpassed, the overall number of migrants crossing the Channel appears to have fallen, data shows.
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Some 11,884 migrants arrived in the six months from the start of January to the end of June, according to the latest Home Office data.
This is 41% lower than the total that had reached the UK by this point last year, which was 19,982.
It is also down 12% on the 13,489 who arrived in the first six months of 2024.
The steep drop is likely to reflect a number of factors including the weather, the supply of small boat parts, Government policy, and the flow of migrants into Europe from elsewhere in the world.
In April, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year agreement with French authorities to pay £662 million to support beach patrols as part of efforts to drive down arrivals.
Ms Mahmood is also seeking to overhaul the asylum system to deter crossings and deport people easier, including proposed changes to make refugee status temporary.