Over 200,000 Migrants Arrived in UK via Small Boats Since 2018

Kathmandu. Latest government figures released recently show that more than two lakh (200,000) migrants have arrived on the shores of Britain in small boats since records began in 2018.

This count began as national issues including immigration dominated local elections, Reform UK, an anti-immigration party, said on Thursday.

Home Office figures published on Saturday showed 70 people arrived in one boat on Friday.

The departure to Britain from the northern French coast is for migrants hoping to reach Britain and such journeys, usually in flimsy and overcrowded boats, put human lives at risk.

With the number of migrants who crossed the Channel on Friday, the total arrival has reached two lakh thirteen thousand (200,013) since the current data collection began.

This figure has been calculated using the government's official data from 2018 to 2025 and provisional data for the current year so far.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the Labour Party is facing increasing pressure on this issue. His Home Secretary Yvette Cooper proposed cutting refugee protections and ending automatic facilities for those seeking asylum.

According to AFP figures based on French and British sources, at least 29 migrants died during sea journeys in 2025. Six more have died this year.

Britain and France agreed on a new three-year deal last month in an attempt to stop risky journeys by undocumented migrants.

France pledged to increase law enforcement, and Britain promised to provide tens of millions of euros to support this effort. Last year, 41,472 migrants reached the southern coast of Britain from northern France.

A record 45,774 arrivals were recorded in 2022 during the leadership of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a leader of the Conservative Party. He had promised to 'stop the boats' when he was in power.

Adopting his own slogan 'Break the gangs', Starmer had pledged to solve the problem by dismantling the human trafficking networks operating across the sea. He has not had more success than his predecessors so far.