Number of People Smuggled Into UK in Small Boats Triples in 2021

A view of one of two areas being used for boats intercepted in the English Channel by the UK's Border Force at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, on July 27, 2021. Gareth Fuller/PA

Around 28,400 people have entered the UK in 2021 by the clandestine crossing of the English Channel, triple the number for 2020.

Analysis of Home Office data by the PA news agency showed that at least 28,395 illegal immigrants had arrived in small boats in the past year, while the BBC’s analysis counted at least 28,431 crossings.