UK PM Andy Burnham highlights drop in small boat arrivals, record returns and fewer hotel asylum seekers amid expanded French border coopera

Andy Burnham

@andyburnham

I said I’d do politics differently. So these are the facts: The UK has seen the lowest number of summer small boat arrivals since 2020. We’ve returned more than 80,000 people with no right to be here – and annual returns are at their highest level since 2016. There are half the number of asylum seekers in hotels than they were last year. And today, we go further by bringing the total number of deployed French officers tackling small boat crossings to nearly 1,050. But I know that we can’t be complacent on this. Smuggling gangs are constantly adapting their tactics, and we need to respond quickly and stay one step ahead of the criminals facilitating dangerous crossings. The small boats crisis is a shared European challenge, and no country can solve it alone. Working with France and our international partners, we will restore order and control to our borders and prevent smugglers exploiting vulnerable migrants.