English Channel illegal migrant crossings (2018–present)

Common card · No. 263624

Refugees and migrants have been entering the United Kingdom by crossing the English Channel since 2018. The Strait of Dover section between Dover in England and Calais in France represents the shortest sea crossing, and is a long-established shipping route. The shortest distance across the strait, at approximately 20 miles (32 kilometres), is from the South Foreland, northeast of Dover in the English county of Kent, to Cap Gris-Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French département of Pas-de-Calais. As of 1 November 2026, the Home Office has detected 215,215 migrants who have crossed the English Channel in small boats since 2018. Crossing the Channel without permission is a criminal offence under UK law, as is to attempt to use a dangerous type of vessel or any unregistered craft under French law. International refugee law protects most persons who present a particularised claim to seek refugee status (asylum seekers) from being penalised, where their dominant purpose can be shown to be seeking...

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