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Image source, PA Media
The dinghy was approximately the size of a standard bus
A record 165 migrants reached the UK in a single boat, the Home Office has confirmed.
The number broke the previous record from July, when 128 crossed the Channel from France in one vessel.
Border Security Command was pictured towing a mega dinghy - estimated to be the same size as a standard bus at 13m (42ft) long - when it arrived in Dover on Thursday afternoon.
A Home Office spokesperson said the crossing served as a "stark reminder that criminal gangs have no regard for the safety of those they claim to help".
"The reality is clear and lives are being lost in the Channel," they added.
A total of 162 people died, external in the busy waterway between 2018 and 2025, according to the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory.
This rises to 257 when considering other migration-related deaths in the area, such as accidents involving people trying to board lorries bound for the UK, it added.
Tap the questions below
How many people cross the English Channel in small boats?Between 1 January and 13 July 2026, a total of 12,469 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France. This was down by 45% on the same period the previous year.
These crossings have become the most common way for people to be detected entering the UK illegally since 2020.
Nearly all those who arrive by small boat claim asylum. Under international law, this means they are allowed to stay in the country while their asylum application is considered.
Small boat arrivals made up 42% of asylum applications between April 2025 to March 2026.
Boats that arrived in the UK from 14 July 2025 to 13 July 2026 carried an average of 66 people. This has more than doubled since 2021.
Experts say overcrowding in boats makes crossings riskier. At least 84 people died while attempting to cross the Channel in 2024, according to the United Nations (UN).
When looking at the scale of small boats crossings, the number of these arrivals is about 5% of the size of total immigration into the UK from January 2025 to December 2025.
The government has pledged to “smash the gangs” behind these crossings in order to reduce the numbers.
Who is arriving in the UK on small boats?People from Eritrea accounted for 18% of all arrivals from April 2025 to March 2026.
In the latest figures covering January 2025 to December 2025, at least 2,000 people who arrived by small boat were found to be potential victims of human trafficking or other forms of modern slavery, according to the Home Office.
How else do people stay in the UK without permission?Another 4,535 people were detected entering the UK without permission via other methods including hiding in vehicles, travelling on ferries or through airports from April 2025 to March 2026. This was down by 22% on the same period the previous year.
There are also individuals who arrive legally, for example via a work or study visa, and then overstay their limit.
The total number of people who live in the UK illegally after arriving legally is not known.
Care4Calais said the route was becoming more dangerous because of the increasing numbers of people per boat.
"The UK and French governments have spent years focusing on border security and enforcement, yet all they've achieved is to make Channel crossings more and more dangerous," said Sydney Sopher from the refugee charity.
"Just days ago a body was found on the beach in Berck. These are preventable tragedies. It could all be stopped overnight by opening safe routes."
Image source, Getty Images
An inflatable small boat pictured in April 2026
The Home Office said its new deal with France - signed in April - prevents these "perilous journeys by boosting enforcement action on beaches".
It added it would build on the more than 45,000 attempted crossings stopped since the 2024 election.
Home Office figures show 366 people arrived in the UK on three boats on Thursday during warm, sunny weather and calm conditions at sea.
Some 172 people made the journey on Wednesday, ending an 11-day hiatus due to wind in the Channel.
According to Home Office figures, 13,007 arrivals have been recorded this year.
This is 45% lower than the number recorded by this time last year and down 18% on the same period in 2024.
Many migrants come from some of the poorest, oppressive and most chaotic parts of the world.
They typically ask to claim asylum once they are picked up by the UK authorities.
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