Highlights
- Urgent review ordered by Border Security Command
- Two uncontrolled landings recorded in two days
- 21 people detained after arrival at Samphire Hoe
- 17,784 people have crossed the Channel by small boat this year
HOME SECRETARY Shabana Mahmood has ordered an urgent review after two small boats carrying migrants reached the Kent coast without being intercepted on consecutive days, prompting fresh scrutiny of the country’s Channel border controls.
Mahmood said on Wednesday (23) that it was “not acceptable” that Border Force had failed to stop the boats before they reached the shore.
The review by Border Security Command will examine how the vessels avoided interception and what measures are needed to prevent similar incidents.
The latest incident took place on Tuesday (22) at Samphire Hoe, near Dover, where 21 people were detained after a boat reached the beach. Kent Police and Border Security Command officers responded to the landing, and those detained were taken for processing.
A separate boat reached the shore near Folkestone on Monday (21). Five people were detained following that arrival.
Uncontrolled landings are unusual because migrants who cross the English Channel are generally brought ashore by Border Security Command or Royal National Lifeboat Institution boats after being intercepted or assisted at sea. Before this week, no small boat had been officially recorded as reaching the UK without an escort since September 6, 2025.
Smugglers changing routes
Mahmood said people-smuggling gangs were changing their methods, including launching boats from locations much further west along the French coast.
She said the longer journeys showed that the gangs had “no regard for human life”, while arguing that pressure on smuggling networks was forcing them to change their approach.
Official figures show that 154 people arrived in three boats on Tuesday, including the vessel involved in the uncontrolled landing. On Monday, around 150 people arrived in three boats, with one recorded as an uncontrolled landing.
The latest incidents came as the government highlighted a wider fall in Channel crossings this year.
Between January 1 and September 22, 17,784 people had arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats. That was 45 per cent lower than the corresponding period in 2025, when 32,188 arrivals had been recorded.
The Border Security Command has previously reported that small boat arrivals began falling during the second half of the 2025-26 financial year. Its annual report said arrivals in April, May and June 2026 were 44 per cent lower than in the same period a year earlier.
Opposition attacks border controls
The latest landings have nevertheless triggered criticism from the Conservatives.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described the situation as a “complete free-for-all” and accused the government of losing control of the border. He also claimed France was failing to prevent boats from leaving its shores.
The government has rejected the suggestion that its wider strategy is failing, pointing instead to the reduction in overall crossings and increased action against organised immigration crime.
The National Crime Agency said last week that law-enforcement activity had been a key factor in reducing small boat arrivals during the first half of 2026. It said the number of people arriving by small boat was down 41 per cent compared with the first half of 2025, while the number of boats had fallen by 47 per cent.
