The first boatload of illegal migrants of 2025 has crossed the English Channel, GB News can exclusively reveal.
A Border Force vessel picked up the migrants from their small boat early on Saturday morning before dropping them off in Dover.
It comes after almost 37,000 people made the treacherous journey in small boats last year.
Some 1,500 crossed over the Christmas period, but poor weather conditions have meant no migrants have attempted the crossing since December 29.
A Border Force vessel picked up the migrants from their small boat early on Saturday morning before dropping them off in Dover
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One senior Maritime source told GB News: "The people smugglers have taken advantage of slightly better weather conditions today to send migrants across.
"But the weather is due to deteriorate with high winds which will make any journey even more treacherous.
"These people smugglers are once again dicing with death. But the ones taking the risks are the migrants, not the smugglers."
Over 23,000 migrants have arrived on Britain's beaches since the General Election - exactly six months ago today.
Official Home Office statistics show that 2024 had the second highest number of illegal arrivals in a single year since 2018, when the small boats crisis began.
LATEST ON THE MIGRANT CRISIS:
Almost 37,000 people made the treacherous journey in small boats in 2024
GB NEWS
While the 2018 and 2019 figures were relatively low, with 299 and 1,843 recorded crossings respectively, the figure soared to 8,466 in 2020.
It leapt even further in 2021 with 28,526 crossings were counted, before reaching a record 45,774 in 2022.
The news that a four-day-old 2025 has already seen a small boat brought back to Britain will doubtless pile pressure on Labour's promise to cut illegal migration and "smash the gangs".
The Prime Minister has accused the former Conservative Government of running "a one-nation experiment in open borders" and has claimed cutting migration "will only be done with a serious plan" - but illegal migrants are still crossing the Channel.
The news that a four-day-old 2025 has already seen a small boat brought back to Britain will doubtless pile pressure on Labour's promise to cut illegal migration
PAOn December 27, the total number of migrants to have arrived in Britain since the start of the crisis crossed 150,000 - more people than the city of York.
A Home Office spokesman told GB News today: "We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
"The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay.
"We will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice."
