Hundreds of small boat migrants arrive in Dover as Channel crossings hit 6,000 this year

By DAVID BARRETT, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 11:14, 19 April 2026 | Updated: 11:14, 19 April 2026 More than 600 small boat migrants reached the UK yesterday, pushing this year’s running total past the 6,000 mark. Nine boat-loads of migrants were picked up mid-Channel by Border Force vessels during Saturday and brought ashore at the Port of Dover. The Home Office confirmed there were 602 arrivals – the second-highest daily total so far this year, just below the 605 who completed the journey from northern France on February 25. The latest arrivals brought the total so far this year to 6,077. It also means that since Labour came to power 70,701 migrants have crossed the Channel to reach Britain. The Border Force catamaran Courageous brings migrants into the Port of Dover on Saturday, which saw a total of 602 arrivals This is a breaking story. More follows.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.