In a significant setback to Labour’s ‘one in, one out’ strategy, over 500 migrants navigated the Channel in a single day, pushing the total for this year beyond 36,000.
Around 1,659 migrants in 23 boats arrived on British shores in the past three days, Home Office figures say.
And, on Wednesday alone, over a thousand people made the perilous journey across the English Channel.
Now, a total of 58,718 migrants have entered the UK by boat since Labour took office, with 36,060 making the crossing so far this year.
It comes as the Government’s ‘one in, one out’ scheme was launched two months ago, and billed to be the answer to the migrant crisis.
But, official data shows the scheme has only removed 26 people since it began, while more than 10,000 have arrived.
Wednesday marked the fourth day this year when arrivals topped 1,000, edging closer to the record of 1,305 set in September 2022.
People-smuggling gangs are now using 40ft ‘mega-dinghies’ to cram ever-larger numbers of migrants into deadly crossings.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s initial actions included ending the Conservative’s Rwanda asylum arrangement, which was aimed at deterring migrant crossings and saving lives.
Border Force boats arrive in Dover filled with migrants as data shows 1,659 crossed the channel in the last three days
It means 36,060 migrants have now crossed the Channel so far this year, bringing the total number to 58,718 since Labour took office
Border Force escort migrants into Dover Docks on Saturday, October 11, 2025
Migrants being led by Border Force to the Dover Docks today
This week, the Labour Government initiated its ‘one in, one out’ policy, where a limited number of migrants arriving by boat are returned across the Channel, allowing approved applicants from France to enter the UK instead.
Labour argues that the ‘one in, one out’ approach will weaken the strategies of human traffickers and break up criminal networks by dissuading potential migrants that their attempts might be unsuccessful.
However, the initiative has faced delays due to legal challenges and even when operational, it is anticipated to remove only about 50 migrants each week.
This development follows critiques in September indicating that Keir Starmer’s leading plan for dealing with small boat crossings was labeled as ineffective as hundreds of illegal migrants continued to arrive in Britain.
On the second day of the Prime Minister’s deal for reciprocal returns to France, just two asylum seekers were deported on a scheduled flight – a day after an Indian migrant was also returned.
At the time, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, hailed the two deportations as an ‘immediate deterrent’.
But it was obvious they were having no effect on the hundreds of migrants openly heading to the beaches of Northern France even as an Eritrean was being flown to Paris the day before, followed by an Iranian man.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Hundreds of illegal immigrants crossed the Channel [yesterday] alone and Labour want applause for removing just two – both of whom will be replaced. Since their meagre returns deal was announced, over 10,000 have crossed. Removing only two is pathetic and boasting about it is absurd.
‘A scheme that will ultimately let 94 per cent of illegal immigrants stay here will have no deterrent effect whatsoever.’
However, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood previously trumpeted the numbers removed from Britain under the new deal with France.
‘The contrast couldn’t be clearer. The last government’s Rwanda scheme took years and cost hundreds of millions of pounds, and failed to forcefully remove a single person,’ she said.
‘In a matter of weeks, we’ve returned 26 through our historic agreement with France.
‘We must put an end to these dangerous crossings which put lives at risk and money in the pockets of criminal gangs.’
But the Shadow Home Secretary maintained Labour was ‘swindling the British public’, branding the new scheme ‘a massive con’.
‘Since the deal became operational over 10,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel and Labour have removed a mere 26.
‘This will obviously not deter anyone. We need to leave the European Convention on Human Rights which will enable us to deport people in days – this would be a real deterrent.’
