The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats is set to end the year 20 per cent higher than in 2023 – despite a pledge by Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “smash" the people-smuggling gangs.
Official figures show 451 people took to the flimsy boats on Christmas Day, and 407 on Boxing Day after a 10-day period in which there were no crossings. This took the total arrivals for the year to 35,491, compared to 29,437 last year.
More than 150,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since records began in 2018. This year’s figure is, however, lower than in 2022, when there were 45,755 crossings.
More migrants were seen arriving on Boxing Day – December 26 – and although the exact number has not yet been recorded by the UK’s Home Office, an end-of-year surge of “hundreds” making the crossing is being predicted by one organisation that supports asylum seekers in northern France.
Mr Starmer made tackling small boats a key pledge and has promised to “smash the gangs” by stepping up law enforcement measures, including sending officers to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, which has increasingly become the centre of the international people-smuggling business.
He also ditched his predecessor Rishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as a deterrent to attempting the crossing. The scheme ran into difficulties in the UK courts, after campaigners successfully argued the African country’s human rights record fell short of international standards.
Migrants attempt to cross the Channel – in pictures
Angele Vettorello, a co-ordinator in the Calais area for the Utopia 56 refugee support organisation, told The National on Friday that hundreds of migrants were going to the bus station in Grande-Synthe, a suburb of the town of Dunkirk, where the main camp housing migrants is located.
“This has been happening since [December] 25 and the weather is now really good,” she said. “These last two days have been really busy because there’s no wind and waves.”
Ms Vettorello said that despite the UK government’s promise to tackle people smuggling gangs, there appears to be no reduction in the numbers willing to make the perilous crossing. “The UK government – and also the French – are spending millions on security, but the fact is that the number is not decreasing,” she said.
“As a state you cannot just put the pressure on smugglers and gangs and hope to get a response without a humanitarian response, for example such as safe passages for refugees. The people are still there in the camps and we’re talking about families as well, with babies and children.”
As The National reported this year, one effect of clamping down on people smugglers was to reduce the supply of boats, resulting in more migrants cramming on to each vessel. This has been linked to the increasing number of deaths in the English Channel.
Though the break in the weather has led to the recent increase in crossings, the Labour government – which was elected in July – is claiming that, overall, it has begun to break the link between calm days in the Channel and migrants taking to the boats. These so-called “red days” are when low wind and waves make it safer to cross to the UK, so more boats set off.
The average number of arrivals each red day was 262.8 for July to December 23, compared with 360.8 in the final six months of last year, 383.8 in 2022 and 286.2 in 2021, Home Office figures show.
This decrease comes despite their being more “red days” in the six months since the government came to office than the same period in 2022 and last year.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that "by scrapping the Rwanda deterrent before it started, Labour has let us down" and added there had been a 20 per cent increase in arrivals since the election.
He pointed out that Australia's scheme for sending asylum seekers to Nauru, an island republic in Oceania, to process their claims, on which the Rwanda plan was based, had succeeded in cutting numbers. “It is an insult that Labour has allowed 858 illegal immigrants into the country on Christmas Day and Boxing Day," Mr Philp said.
The UK and Iraq last month agreed on a “world-first” deal to tackle gangs based in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region that run people-smuggling operations across Europe that result in the small boat Channel crossings.
It came as members of a smuggling gang were sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years by a court in Lille, France. Another key player, Barzan Majeed – known as Scorpion – was detained this year in Sulaymaniyah, north-eastern Iraq, where he had fled after being sentenced to 10 years in jail by a court in Belgium.
A Home Office source said the previous Conservative government had "left an appalling legacy of broken border security" and that the Labour administration was "fixing the foundations with a new Border Security Command, 100 new specialist investigators, and new agreements with Europe and beyond to break up the business models of the evil criminal gangs making millions from small boat crossings".
“We are increasing removals of those with no right to be here and are clamping down on illegal working," said the source.
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Indoor Cricket World Cup
Venue Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE squad Saqib Nazir (captain), Aaqib Malik, Fahad Al Hashmi, Isuru Umesh, Nadir Hussain, Sachin Talwar, Nashwan Nasir, Prashath Kumara, Ramveer Rai, Sameer Nayyak, Umar Shah, Vikrant Shetty
Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Favourite drink: Water
Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work
Favourite music: Classical music
Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
Barbie
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SE%20(second%20generation)
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MEYDAN%20RACECARD
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
The%20Witcher%20-%20season%20three
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Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
The biog
DOB: March 13, 1987
Place of birth: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia but lived in Virginia in the US and raised in Lebanon
School: ACS in Lebanon
University: BSA in Graphic Design at the American University of Beirut
MSA in Design Entrepreneurship at the School of Visual Arts in New York City
Nationality: Lebanese
Status: Single
Favourite thing to do: I really enjoy cycling, I was a participant in Cycling for Gaza for the second time this year
