The number of irregular migrants arriving in the UK peaked at 54,574 arrivals in 2022, with a further 36,363 arrivals in 2023. In the year ending September 2025, there were 51,249 detected irregular arrivals, 89% of these arrived by small boats1.
	Small boats have been the predominant recorded method of entry for irregular arrivals since 2020, when detections on this method increased rapidly and detections on other methods declined.
	In the year ending September 2025, 45,659 migrants arrived in the UK on 775 small boats. This increased from 29,851 migrants on 575 boats in the year ending September 2024. The average number of people per boat has increased, from an average of 41 people per boat in 2022 to 59 in the year ending September 2025 . The high number of people per boat only serves to increase the danger of these crossings.2
	In the year ending September 2025, less than one fifth of detected irregular arrivals consisted of Inadequately documented air arrivals (6%), Recorded detections in the UK (4%) and Recorded detections at UK ports (0.4%).3
	Between 2015 and September 2025 the UK offered refuge to over three quarters of a million (811,883) people, through safe and legal routes, including those from Hong Kong, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as family members of refugees.4
	The Government recognises this increase in all arrivals has put strain not only on the UK’s immigration and asylum system, but also on local authorities who seek to house and care for individuals and provide services to the public. Global instability, coupled with fewer asylum decisions being made have contributed towards the total number of cases in the asylum system standing at 224,742 at the end of June 2024. This is a four-fold increase over the last decade, with 55,814 cases in June 2014.5
	The increase in irregular arrivals has been driven by global instability and capitalised on by organised criminal gangs operating smuggling networks across Europe, many of which also have links to the smuggling of illicit and illegal goods.
	Threats to the UK from serious and organised crime, including organised immigration crime are rapidly evolving. Serious and organised crime is estimated to cost the UK at least £47 billion annually.6,7
	For example, in 2023, there were 25 cases involving the seizure of 3D-printed firearm component parts, or items associated with 3D-printing of firearms (such as printers or blueprints) during targeted police searches. This is an increase on 17 cases in 2022. Five of the cases in 2023 involved the seizure of a complete firearm, with only one of these confirmed through testing as a viable 3D-printed firearm. In the remaining 20 cases, only 3D-printed parts were recovered.8
	In 2020, Police Scotland recovered pill presses from an organised crime group used to produce Etizolam, a Class C drug which in the same year was a factor in more than 800 drug-related deaths in Scotland.9 NCA Lead Investigator Rory Duffin said: "The NCA investigation found Sorrenti was providing criminals with professional-standard customer service, supplying equipment, ingredients and instructions to create hundreds of thousands of potentially fatal drugs, and troubleshooting problems that arose.".
	The Government believes that it is vital that the approach to border security also addresses the wide range of serious and organised criminality threats faced by the public.
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