News

Channel crossings: Home Office records 781 arrivals in a day

24 Sep 2026 2 minute read

A group of people thought to be migrants are driven away from the Border Force compound in Dover, Kent, following a number of small boat incidents in the Channel. Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Flora Thompson, Ian Jones and Press Association Political Staff

More than 700 migrants arrived in the UK on Wednesday – the highest number for a single day so far this year.

It comes after a Cabinet minister said not every migrant boat can be intercepted in the wake of two boats landing undetected on British shores within two days.

The Home Office recorded 781 arrivals in 10 boats on Wednesday, suggesting an average of 78 people per boat.

This takes the provisional total for Channel crossings for the year so far to 18,565.

This is down 42% on this time last year (32,188), and 26% below the figure at this stage in 2024 (25,165).

Earlier, Education Secretary Lucy Powell said “(you) can’t stop everything all of the time”, the day after 21 people were detained when a boat evaded Border Force to reach the beach of Samphire Hoe in Dover.

It was the second undetected landing in two days, following a dinghy making it to shore at Folkestone on Monday morning.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has ordered an urgent review by the Border Security Command, said the failure to intercept the two boats was “not acceptable”.

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