Over 450 Illegal Immigrants Cross Channel on Christmas Day

A group of people thought to be illegal immigrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Dec. 26, 2024. Gareth Fuller/PA

More than 450 illegal immigrants crossed the English Channel in small boats on Christmas Day, marking the first arrivals after a 10-day hiatus.

The Home Office reported 11 boats crossing to the UK on Dec. 25, carrying 451 illegal immigrants. The figures come after a 10-day break in crossings, with the last arrivals of 160 immigrants on three boats recorded on Dec. 14.

December has so far accounted for 1,929 illegal immigrant arrivals, an increase on 1,077 in the same period last year.

The Home Office has vowed to tackle the illegal immigration crisis that has seen a total of 149,813 immigrants arrive in Britain by boat across the Channel since 2018, when records began.

This year, more than 70 people have died attempting to cross the Channel in small boats, including a number of babies and children.

Last week, a Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay. We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.”

Labour Leadership

More than 20,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the English Channel to Britain since Sir Keir Starmer assumed government leadership in July, official data suggest.

According to the PA news agency, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has conceded that it would be “no comfort” to the public if numbers continue to remain at high levels.

Speaking on migration at Downing Street last month, Starmer said Labour had inherited an “utter mess” in the Home Office and vowed to “turn things around.”

After coming into government, Labour scrapped the previous government’s immigration policy, under which immigrants who enter the UK illegally would be either returned to their home country or sent to Rwanda.

First introduced in 2022, the Rwanda scheme was a key part of the Conservatives’ plan to “stop the boats” by deterring future crossings.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said on social media platform X on Thursday that Labour had failed to offer “any real or credible plan” to protect the UK’s borders.

“Four hundred fifty-one illegal immigrants arrived by small boat on Christmas Day. France is safe - none needed to cross to flee danger We have been let down again by Labour. Their Christmas gift to the British public appears to be uncontrolled and unlimited illegal immigration,” said Philp.

Part of the government’s national security strategy is the UK’s new Border Security Command. It aims to tackle people-smuggling gangs, which are often behind the illegal Channel crossings.

Labour plans to invest £150 million in Border Security Command over the next two years to crack down on traffickers and organised crime.

The cash boost will be used to hire hundreds of new investigators and intelligence officers. It will also support the use of data and tech to break down smuggling networks working across Europe.

A group of people thought to be illegal immigrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Dec. 26, 2024. Gareth Fuller/PA

International Deals

The government believes that closer collaboration with partners overseas will be key to smashing the criminal gangs that facilitate and profit from illegal immigration.

Britain’s agreements with Serbia, North Macedonia, and Kosovo, signed in November, aim to support plans to crack down on organised immigration crime. The deals, building on the existing partnership between the UK and Albania, will increase intelligence sharing to intercept the gangs as they transport vulnerable people through the Western Balkans.

Smuggling networks operating out of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Europe, are behind illegal migration and trafficking, including across the Channel to the UK.

Last month, the Home Office committed up to £300,000 for Iraqi law enforcement training in border security. Cooper set aside £200,000 to support irregular migration and border security projects in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including a new taskforce.

Britain and Iraq have agreed to work on the returns of illegal immigrants arriving in Britain.

The Home Office has also agreed a new deal with Germany to curb irregular migration.

Announced in December, the joint action plan aims to “break the business model” of people-smuggling gangs and reduce the influx of illegal immigrants into Germany, the UK, and Europe.