Migrants entering the UK by illegal routes

~ Hewan Ormson ~ Leave a comment

We are now used to the regular publication of the figures for net migration into the UK but these figures do not include the numbers of migrants entering the country by illegal routes. For the year ending December 2025 this figure was 41,472, a 13% increase on the previous year. This is the number of migrants who entered the country illegally by travelling on “small boats.” 60% of this number was made up of Eritrean, Afghan, Iranian, Sudanese, and Somali nationals. In addition to this number, however, a further 5,025 arrived by other illegal routes making a total of 46,497 migrants who entered the country by illegal means. This additional number is made up of those who have made inadequately documented air arrivals, have been detected in the UK within 72 hours of arrival or have been detected at UK ports.

The figures for years ending 2018 to 2025 are given below:

Total for Year ending DecemberSmall boat arrivalsInadequately documented air arrivalsRecorded detections in the UKRecorded detections at UK portsOverall Total
20182994,7697,2571,05213,377
20191,8435,2378,49295916531
20208,4662,3285,42880817,030
202128,5262,5615,03666236,785
202245,7745,1303,37929154,574
202329,4373,8542,83623636,363
202436,8163,3492,90022543,290
202541,4723,0271,81718146,497
Overall Total192,63330,25537,1454,414264,447

1,453,000 long-term immigrants arrived in the UK from year ending December 2018 to year ending December 2025 from non-EU+ countries. In addition to this, 192,633 immigrants having arrived illegally on “small boats”, 30,255 were found to have arrived by air with inadequate documentation, 37,145 were detected in the UK and 4,414 were detected at UK ports.were detected

Asylum claimants
Since 2018, 95% of the people arriving in the UK on a “small boat” have claimed asylum and they accounted for around 40% of the total number of people claiming asylum in the UK in the year ending December 2025.
The table shows the numbers of “small boat” arrivals who were returned. It can take time for a decision on an asylum claim and for the return of any arrival with no right to be in the UK to be enforced or recorded so dates are based on date of return. The arrival was not necessarily in the same period. For example, an individual returned in 2023 may have arrived in 2022.

In total, 101,000 people claimed asylum in the UK during the year ending December 2025, 50% of whom had arrived by an illegal route. 39% had overstayed their visas or leave to remain. 54,887 people were granted refugee protection or other leave at initial decision in the year ending December 2025, a grant rate of 42%.

Sudan (94%), Eritrea (87%) and Iran (58%) had the highest proportion of asylum claims granted in year ending 2025. Bangladesh (16%), Turkey (19%) and India (<1%) had the lowest proportion of claims granted.

62% of claims (2,810) for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children received grants of protection or other leave at initial decision in the year ending December 2025.

Returns
In the year ending December 2025, 2,550 “small boat” arrivals were returned. Dates are based on date of return, so, for example, an individual returned in 2025 may have arrived in 2024.

Total for Year ending DecemberSmall boat arrivalsSmall boat returns
20182999
20191,843128
20208,466147
202128,52628
202245,774384
202329,4372,042
202436,8162,324
202541,4272,550
Overall Total192,6337,603

EU+ countries include members of the European Union and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland 
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2025/how-many-people-are-granted-asylum-in-the-uk
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2025/summary-of-latest-statistics
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2025/how-many-people-are-returned-from-the-uk