Data from the Home Office reveals the number of small boat arrivals rose by over 20% in a year – but the asylum backlog and use of hotels is falling
Small boat arrivals rose by over 20% in a year – but the asylum backlog and hotel use have plummeted since the Tories were kicked out, new data shows.
Ministers face fresh calls to expand safe routes as figures revealed people from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Sudan, Syria and Iran account for a majority of small boat arrivals. In the 12 months to March this year there was a 22% rise in people successfully crossing the Channel, with a surge in people coming from the Horn of Africa in recent months.
There has also been an increase in removals, with nearly 30,000 failed asylum seekers and foreign national offenders kicked out since the general election.
The Government is stepping up its work targeting people traffickers in a bid to drive down numbers. In the breakthrough agreement between the UK and the EU announced this week, Keir Starmer secured agreement from European law enforcement agencies to work closer together – including fingerprinting and DNA sharing. And leaders will also work together on returns agreements to remove people with no right to be in the country.
But campaigners say the nationalities of those coming by small boat highlight huge failures, with many unable to claim asylum until they reach the UK. Expanding legal routes would break the business model of traffickers, they argue.
It comes after the PM was given a boost with news that net migration halved in a year to 431,000. Mr Starmer has pledged to drive this down – but refused to put a number on it.
Here we look at some of the key things we learned from the mass of Home Office data released today.
Irregular arrivals – how do people get here?
Data released by the Home Office today reveals there were 43,630 irregular arrivals in 2024. There were a further 8,080 between January and March this year – 51,710.
Of these 43,458 came by small boat, while a much smaller number – 4,125 – arrived in airports without authorisation. There were a further 4,127 detections at other locations across the UK and at ports.
It meant that in the year to March, small boat arrivals accounted for 86% of irregular arrivals.
Where are small boat arrivals from?
In the first three months of the year arrivals from Eritrea outnumbered all other nationalities. The northeastern African state has endured decades of war and instability and is among the poorest in the world.
Afghanistan and Sudan are also high on the list this year, while over 4,000 people from Vietnam have come to the UK. In April the Government reached a new agreement with Vietnam to ramp up returns.
Top 10 nations among 2024 arrivals
- Afghanistan 5,919
- Syria 4,630
- Iran 4,158
- Vietnam 3,602
- Eritrea 3,380
- Sudan 2,695
- Iraq 2,064
- Turkey 1,911
- Sierra Leone 1,291
- Yemen 1,280
Top 10 nationalities among arrivals from January to March this year
- Eritrea 1,291
- Afghanistan 858
- Sudan 761
- Vietnam 495
- Iran 492
- Somalia 406
- Syria 299
- Kuwait 278
- Yemen 269
- Ethiopia 257
What do campaigners say?
Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said: “Today’s figures reflect that we are living in an ever-unstable world, where many men, women and children are left with no choice but to flee their homes in search for safety. The number of Channel crossings has increased by 22%.
“The only way to cut Channel crossings is to undermine the business model of the smugglers, which necessarily includes creating more safe and legal routes for people to apply for asylum in Britain. We are therefore concerned that the government intends to make it more difficult for families torn apart by war and persecution to reunite safely and legally.”
Overall asylum figures
In the year to March 109,000 people claimed asylum, relating to 85,000 cases. This was a 17% rise on the previous year, and the largest number on record.
The number of people claiming asylum has nearly doubled since 2021. Last year just under a third had arrived by small boat, while more than a third reached the UK by visa. Last year the UK received the fifth largest number of asylum seekers in the EU+, after Germany, Spain, Italy and France.
What is the asylum backlog now?
At the end of March there were 79,000 cases awaiting an initial decision. This related to 110,000 people and was 9% lower than a year ealier.
During the height of the Tory asylum chaos there were 134,000 cases waiting for an initial decision. This means the backlog has fallen by 41% since then.
Is asylum hotel use falling?
Yes, there’s been a sharp drop, but there’s a long way to go. The huge cost of accommodation – under the Tories it was costing taxpayers £8million a day due to the enormous backlog – has sparked public anger.
Labour has vowed to drive down the backlog and get people out of hotels. On March 31 there were 32,345 people in hotel accommodation. This was 15% lower than at the end of 2024, and 42% lower than the peak of 56,042 at the end of September 2023.
Of those getting asylum support, 67% were in other types of accommodation, while 3% were receiving subsistence support only.
Asylum grant rate has fallen
The Home Office figures show just under half – 49% – of claims, excluding dependants, were approved when an initial decision was made. The number, in the year until March this year, was a huge drop on the previous year, when the grant rate was 61%.
Officials say this is because fewer cases meet the requirements of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, passed under the previous government.
Returns ramped up under Labour
Nearly 30,000 failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals have been kicked out of the UK since the general election, new figures show.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said removals had been ramped up, with a 23% rise in enforced returns after the Tories left the asylum system in chaos.
And the number of criminals from overseas has gone up by 14% since July 5 last year, when Labour came to power, the data reveals.
Home Office figures show there were 29,867 returns between July 5 last year and May 18 this year. This included 7,893 enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK. There were 4,436 foreign national offenders (FNOs) kicked out and 8,511 asylum related returns.