The number of migrants crossing the English Channel has set a new record for the first half of the year.
Some 19,982 migrants had arrived in the UK after making the dangerous crossing by the end of June, latest Home Office figures show.
The total is 48% higher than the figure for the first six months of 2024, which was 13,489, and 75% higher than the equivalent figure for 2023, which was 11,433.
Data collection on the Channel crossings began in 2018.
A Number 10 spokesman said on Tuesday the numbers are “clearly unacceptable”, adding: “Let’s be clear, the rising numbers in recent years are because these gangs have been allowed to embed industrial-scale smuggling enterprises across Europe.”
Some 879 migrants made the journey in 13 boats on Monday, the third highest number of arrivals on a single day so far this year.
The highest number of arrivals on a single day so far in 2025 is 1,195 on May 31.
The record for the highest number of arrivals on one day is 1,305, which took place on September 3 2022.
On Tuesday, the Conservatives claimed the number of migrants crossing the Channel has passed 20,000.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “One year into Labour’s Government and the boats haven’t stopped – they’ve multiplied.
“Labour tore up our deterrent and replaced it with fantasy.
“This is the worst year on record, and it’s become a free-for-all.
“We need a removals deterrent so every single illegal immigrant who arrives is removed to a location outside Europe.
“The crossings will then rapidly stop.”
But the Number 10 spokesman said the problem requires “international solutions and international partnerships”, which is “what you’re seeing”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer revealed in May that he has talked to countries about “return hubs” for failed asylum seekers as the Government is looking at the possibility of processing them in third countries before they are deported.
French officials have also agreed to changes that would allow police patrolling the coast to take action in the sea when migrants climb into boats from the water, which is yet to come into effect.
The Government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill is also continuing through Parliament, which will hand counter-terror style powers to police and introduce new criminal offences to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the Government is right to tackle gangs but “these measures alone are so far not achieving the intended outcome, with deadly crossings rising”.
He added: “These rising numbers mean the Government must immediately move from enforcement-only to a multi-pronged approach, which includes international co-operation, and ensure refugees can access safe and legal pathways, in the same way Ukrainians have been able to travel to the UK without having to take a dangerous journey.”
The figures also come as the UK’s borders watchdog David Bolt said in June he did not feel “very optimistic about the ability to smash the gangs”, adding that with organised crime “the best thing you can do is deflect it to something else you’re less concerned about rather than expect to eradicate it”.
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