London: The UK Home Office announced that more than 43,000 illegal immigrants reached Britain by small boats from northern France between June 2024 and June 2025. This marked a 38 percent increase compared to the previous year.
According to Kuwait News Agency, since January 2018, over 168,000 individuals have arrived in the UK through this route. Of these, more than 159,000 have applied for asylum, with over 61,000 applications approved, as confirmed by the Home Office.
The Home Office data showed that 55 percent of these arrivals originated from five countries: Afghanistan accounted for 15 percent (6,360 individuals), followed by Eritrea with 14 percent, Iran with 10 percent, and both Syria and Sudan with 9 percent each.
The diversity of nationalities using this route has significantly expanded, with the number increasing from eight in 2019 to 75 in 2022, and further to 82 by 2025.
The period between June 2021 and June 2022 recorded the highest annual total of nearly 46,000 arrivals, while the highest daily total of 1,072 arrivals was recorded in early September 2025.