Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

(asked on 21st July 2025) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many returns of people who arrived by small boat there have been in each month since July 2023, broken down by nationality.


Answered by
Lord Hanson of Flint Portrait
Lord Hanson of Flint
Minister of State (Home Office)
This question was answered on 4th August 2025

The Home Office publishes data on returns in the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release. Quarterly data on enforced and voluntary returns of small boat arrivals can be found in Ret_06 of the ‘Returns summary tables’. This dataset covers the period 2018 to March 2025, with data up to June 2025 to be published on 21 August. Additionally, you can find more information on these returns in section 6.1 of the ‘How many people are returned from the UK?’ chapter of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release.

Enforced and voluntary returns of small boat arrivals by quarter:

Date of return

Returns

Of which, Albanian nationals

2018 Q1

0

0

2018 Q2

0

0

2018 Q3

4

0

2018 Q4

5

5

2018 Total

9

5

2019 Q1

21

0

2019 Q2

25

0

2019 Q3

44

1

2019 Q4

38

0

2019 Total

128

1

2020 Q1

21

0

2020 Q2

1

0

2020 Q3

76

0

2020 Q4

49

0

2020 Total

147

0

2021 Q1

3

1

2021 Q2

6

0

2021 Q3

4

0

2021 Q4

16

2

2021 Total

29

3

2022 Q1

36

5

2022 Q2

60

13

2022 Q3

86

45

2022 Q4

203

161

2022 Total

385

224

2023 Q1

309

252

2023 Q2

460

390

2023 Q3

589

522

2023 Q4

695

624

2023 Total

2,053

1,788

2024 Q1

572

512

2024 Q2

629

531

2024 Q3

571

470

2024 Q4

558

443

2024 Total

2,330

1,956

2025 Q1

482

356

2025 Jan-Mar

482

356

Note: This table is a combination of data from Ret_06 and the chart found in section 6.1 of the ‘How many people are returned from the UK?’ chapter of the ‘Immigration System Statistics quarterly release’.

Reticulating Splines