UK records 43,000 illegal immigrants in small boats in a year

LONDON, Oct 23 (KUNA) -- The UK Home Office said Thursday that more than 43,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Britain by small boats from northern France between June 2024 and June 2025, a 38 percent rise from the previous year.
Since January 2018, over 168,000 have arrived this way; more than 159,000 applied for asylum and over 61,000 were approved, Home Office confirmed.
55 percent of arrivals came from five countries: Afghanistan 15 percent (6,360), Eritrea 14 percent, Iran 10 percent, Syria 9 percent, and Sudan 9 percent, it stated.
The number of nationalities using this route grew from eight in 2019 to 75 in 2022 and 82 in 2025.
The highest annual total was nearly 46,000 between June 2021 and June 2022, and the highest daily total was 1,072 in early September 2025. (end) mrn.lr