English Channel migrant crossings (2018–present)

An increasing number of refugees and migrants have been entering the United Kingdom illegally by crossing the English Channel (La Manche) in the last decades. The Strait of Dover section between Dover in England and Calais in France represents the shortest sea crossing, and is a long-established shipping route. The shortest distance across the strait, at approximately 20 miles (32 kilometres), is from the South Foreland, northeast of Dover in the English county of Kent, to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French département of Pas-de-Calais.

As of 18 August 2024, the Home Office has detected 132,896 migrants who have crossed the English Channel in small boats since 2018.