Burnham doubles NCA officers as small boat arrivals fall 43% in 2026

The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats has fallen by 43% in 2026 compared with the same period last year. Provisional Home Office figures show 14,526 people have arrived so far this year, down from 25,436 by this point in 2025. The total is also 14% lower than in 2024.

On 2 August, 326 migrants arrived in four boats, bringing the total since Prime Minister Andy Burnham took office on 20 July to 2,057. In the same period last year, 1,962 people crossed. The Home Office said crossings fluctuate with weather, peaking in warmer months.

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NCA officers more than doubled since 2025

The National Crime Agency now has almost 800 officers working on organised immigration crime, up from 376 at the start of 2025. Burnham said the increase was part of a broader effort to tackle trafficking gangs, as reported by The Guardian on 2 August.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood visited the NCA headquarters in Stratford on the same day. She said the government’s work was beginning to ‘bear fruit’ but acknowledged further reforms were needed to address what she called ‘pull factors’ drawing people to cross the Channel.

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“I want to change the calculus. I want them to change their mind about whether they get on the boat in the first place.”

Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary

Burnham visits Dover after Ceuta crisis

Burnham visited the HM Coastguard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Dover on 2 August. The visit followed a surge of 50,000 migrants into the Spanish territory of Ceuta last week, which Spain’s prime minister called a ‘violation of territorial integrity’. Spain has since installed a 500-metre floating barrier at its border with Morocco.

Burnham said he had been assured by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that 98% of those who entered Ceuta had been returned to Morocco. He told reporters the UK needed to ‘bring back that control’ at the border while offering safe routes for refugees, as reported by The Standard.

The EU has convened emergency talks for 4 August after 22 member states demanded a unified response to migration. At least 72 people died attempting to reach Ceuta, some drowning and others crushed while climbing the border fence.

What happens next

Mahmood has proposed doubling the time it takes to qualify for indefinite leave to remain from five to 10 years. She said the measure was needed to address ‘pull factors’ but has faced opposition within the Labour Party. The government has not set a date for the change.

The Home Office has seized more than 1,000 small boats or engines since Labour came to power in 2024. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the government had not ‘smashed the gangs’ as promised and called for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Liberal Democrats have called for stronger ties with Europe to stop crossings. Immigration spokesperson Will Forster said the government must ‘redouble its efforts’ to rebuild relations with the EU and target criminal networks.