Timeline of the Channel migrant crisis

More than 200,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since current records began in 2018, Government figures show.

This is how events have unfolded since the start of the Channel migrant crisis:
December 31: Sir Sajid bows to pressure from Tory MPs and announces that two more Border Force cutters are to be stationed in the Channel, having previously warned they would act as a “magnet” for migrants.

A total of 299 people made the journey that year.

January 24: Sir Sajid and his French counterpart, Christophe Castaner, announce a joint action plan aimed at halving the number of successful crossings over the summer and reducing it to an “infrequent phenomenon” by spring 2020.

It includes more than £6 million for new security equipment such as CCTV and night goggles, increased beach patrols and intelligence sharing, and a commitment to conduct return operations as quickly as possible.

August 9: A 31-year-old Iranian woman, Mitra Mehrad, becomes the first migrant known to have drowned while attempting the crossing after falling from a dinghy.

August 23: Then-prime minister Boris Johnson warns migrants “we will send you back” after almost 100 attempt the crossing in the space of 24 hours.

December 31: 1,843 migrants are reported to have successfully crossed the Channel in the course of 2019.

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October 27: A family of five, including three young children, drown after their boat capsizes in the Channel.

November 28: Dame Priti and Mr Darmanin announce a new joint operational plan with more French police patrols and the deployment of cutting-edge surveillance and detection technology.

December 31: At least 8,466 people arrived in small boats in the course of 2020, quadruple the number of the previous year.

March 24: Dame Priti says she will “consider all options” to offshore processing of asylum claims to third countries as she sets out plans to overhaul the immigration system.

November 11: 1,185 migrants take advantage of the unseasonably mild weather to make the Channel crossing – a new record for a single day.

November 15: Dame Priti and Mr Darmanin issue a joint statement vowing to prevent “100% of crossings”, making the Channel route “unviable” for migrants.

November 24: 27 people, including a pregnant woman and three children, drown after their dinghy capsizes in the deadliest incident in the Channel since Sir Sajid first declared a major emergency.

Dame Priti is disinvited from a meeting of European interior ministers following a diplomatic row between Mr Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron over the response to the tragedy.

December 31: The total number of arrivals for the year is 28,526.

April 14: Mr Johnson announces a plan to deport migrants arriving in small boats to Rwanda for their claims to be processed, saying it would act as a “very considerable deterrent”.

June 15: The first deportation flight to Rwanda is cancelled just minutes before take-off following a ruling by a judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

August 23: The Ministry of Defence says 1,295 migrants made the crossing in 27 boats, another new record.

August 25: Dame Priti announces an agreement with the Albanian government to curb the numbers of migrants from that country amid concerns they account for 60% of all those arriving in the UK.

November 14: Mrs Braverman signs a new agreement with Mr Darmanin allowing British officers to join French beach patrols.

November 23: Admitting the Government has “failed to control our borders”, Mrs Braverman tells MPs they are determined to “fix” the problem, following criticism of overcrowding at the Manston processing centre in Kent.

December 14: Four people die and 39 others are rescued after their dinghy capsizes in the Channel.

December 19: The High Court rules the Government’s Rwanda policy is legal but orders the cases of the first eight deportees to be reconsidered.

Campaigners later take the case to the Court of Appeal.

December 31: 45,774 migrants made the Channel crossing over the course of the year, according to Government figures.

January 4: Then-prime minister Rishi Sunak announces that legislation to tackle the migrant crisis is one of five key priorities for his premiership.

March 7: Mrs Braverman tells MPs the Illegal Migration Bill will impose a legal duty to remove those arriving in the country illegally, barring them from claiming asylum in the UK.

March 29: The Government unveils plans to house asylum seekers on disused military bases, ferries and barges in a bid to cut spending on hotels.

May 25: Figures show the asylum backlog has hit a new record high with more than three-quarters of claims made by people who crossed the Channel since 2018 still awaiting a decision.

June 5: Mr Sunak insists his plan to stop Channel crossings is “starting to work” but plays down suggestions that fewer arrivals were a result of poor weather conditions at the time of year rather than policy decisions.

July 12: The first asylum seekers arrive at former RAF airbase Wethersfield Airfield in Essex as it is brought into use as accommodation.

Legal action is brought against the plans.

July 13: The Government is given the go-ahead to take the legal battle over its Rwanda deportation policy to the Supreme Court.

July 20: Despite condemnation from campaigners, sweeping asylum reforms under the Illegal Migration Bill become law after being given royal assent and being made an Act of Parliament.

But it is unclear when the new rules will come into force.

The number of migrants crossing the Channel tops 14,000 for the year so far.

July 27: Mrs Braverman buys marquees to sleep 2,000 asylum seekers on disused military sites in a bid to avoid using hotels ahead of an expected surge in Channel crossings.

July 28: It emerges plans to move 2,000 migrants into RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire – which is subject to a legal challenge – have been delayed until October.

August 1: Figures show the average number of migrants crossing the Channel per boat in July (52) was the highest on record for any month since records began in 2018.

August 5: Mr Sunak announces a plan for social media firms including Facebook, TikTok and Twitter to team up with the National Crime Agency to crack down on people smugglers’ posts encouraging asylum seekers to cross the Channel.

August 7: The first group of asylum seekers finally boards the Bibby Stockholm after weeks of setbacks and delays.

Meanwhile, official figures confirm more than 50,000 migrants are living in hotels.

August 11: The number of Channel crossings since 2018 passes the 100,000 mark.

November 15: Five justices at the Supreme Court rule that the Rwanda deportation policy is unlawful.

Mr Sunak vows to do “whatever it takes” to stop small boat crossings.

The Government insists it has been working on contingency measures and promises a treaty with Rwanda within days along with emergency legislation in Parliament.

December 27: Figures show migrants did not cross the Channel over the Christmas period for the first time since current records began.

December 31: 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in 2023, according to Government figures, down a third on the previous year.

June 24: The number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel hits a new record for the first six months of a calendar year (12,901).

June 26: The number of migrants who have made the journey since Mr Sunak became prime minister passes 50,000.

July 6: At his first press conference since entering Number 10 after Labour won the election, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the scandal-hit Rwanda deportation plan brought in by the former Conservative government was “dead and buried”.

July 23: The Government announces it will end the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge for housing migrants off England’s south coast as part of an overhaul of the asylum system.

September 17: Figures show more than 10,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel since Labour won the general election.

October 25: The number of migrants arriving in the year so far topped 29,000, including 500 arriving in a single day.

November 1: Figures show more than 5,000 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in October, making it the busiest month of the year so far.

December 5: The Prime Minister repeated promises to cut immigration in a speech setting out his “plan for change” but stopped short of setting any targets.

Immigration did not feature in six “milestones” he announced so voters could “hold our feet to the fire”.

December 15: Ms Cooper said the Government had a moral responsibility to tackle Channel crossings but refused to set a deadline on when a target to see the numbers fall “sharply” would be met, during a visit to Italy where she met with the country’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni to discuss migration.

December 27: The number of Channel crossings to the UK recorded since the start of 2018 hits 150,000.

January 30: The Government introduces the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to Parliament to hand counter-terror style powers to police and introduce new criminal offences to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.

The Bill becomes law in December.

May 7: Public spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, reveals the cost of asylum accommodation is expected to be more than three times higher than previously estimated at £15.3 billion over 10 years.

June 11: Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces that the Government will end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in this Parliament as part of the spending review.

July 1: The number of migrants crossing the English Channel set a new record for the first half of the year, with 19,982 arrivals.

July 10: Sir Keir sets out the newly agreed migrant returns deal known as “one in, one out” with France at a joint press conference with French president Mr Macron at the conclusion of his state visit to the UK.

Under the deal, migrants who arrive in the UK by small boat can be detained and returned across the Channel, in exchange for an equivalent number of people who applied and were approved through a safe and legal route.

July 11: Ministers vow to carry out a “nationwide blitz” targeting migrants working illegally in the UK to tackle “pull factors” attracting migrants to the UK alongside the returns deal struck with France.

August 6: The UK-France “one in, one out” pilot scheme comes into force with the first detentions beginning of migrants who arrived that afternoon.

August 19: Epping Forest District Council is granted a temporary injunction by the High Court blocking migrants from being housed at the Bell Hotel, in Epping, Essex.

The hotel had been at the centre of a series of protests in recent weeks after asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu, who was staying there, was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

September 1: Ms Cooper announces new applications to the existing refugee family reunion route will be suspended, and that refugees will be covered by “the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else” until new rules are introduced.

September 4: Epping hotel resident and Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu is found guilty at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court of sexual assaults on a woman and 14-year-old girl that sparked nationwide protests.

He was jailed and later deported after he was accidentally freed from HMP Chelmsford in October.

September 16: The Government faces pressure over the “one in, one out” migrant returns deal with France after an Eritrean man won a last-minute High Court bid to temporarily block his deportation.

He was due to be deported on a 9am flight the following day.

Ms Mahmood vowed to fight “last-minute claims” after the bid.

September 18: The first return of a migrant to France under the pilot scheme takes place while the Government faces a second legal challenge over the deal in the High Court.

September 24: A family of three, including a small child, become the first people to arrive in the UK under the “one in, one out” deal with France.

November 11: Epping Forest District Council’s bid for a permanent injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed at the Bell Hotel is rejected at the High Court.

The council took legal action against the hotel owner, Somani Hotels, claiming that accommodating asylum seekers there breaches planning rules.

November 17: Ms Mahmood announces plans to overhaul the asylum system aimed at making Britain a less attractive destination for illegal migrants, and making it easier to remove them from the UK.

Changes proposed include to make refugee status temporary, subject to review every 30 months.

December 10: Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy joins member states of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in agreeing the treaty should be looked at to tackle concerns over addressing migration.

A total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel – the second highest annual figure on record.

January 22: The first asylum seekers – 27 men – are moved into the former military barracks Crowborough Training Camp in East Sussex as ministers face pressure to end the use of hotels.

April 1: Two migrants die after crossing the Channel, the first fatalities recorded in 2026.

It comes hours after Ms Mahmood failed to agree a new beach patrol deal aimed at reducing the number of departures but signed a £2 million a week extension to the current arrangement with France as the negotiations continued.

April 9: Just over a week later, another four migrants drown after being swept away by strong currents while trying to cross the Channel.

May 3: French authorities said two women died while trying to cross the Channel.