'We are smashing the gangs' Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will today claim despite huge numbers crossing the Channel

HOME Secretary Yvette Cooper will today claim this government is "smashing the gangs" by carrying out "the most disruptions of people smugglers on record" and limiting the availability of boats to cross the Channel, as she outlines "significant reforms to Britain’s border security and asylum systems."

Ms Cooper will say the 2024/25 financial year saw a record number of disruptions of immigration crime networks by working with the new Border Security Command and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

There were 347 disruptions of people smuggling gangs – the highest level on record and a 40 per cent increase on the previous 12 months, according to Ms Cooper.

That included 56 of the highest-impact disruptions, leading – according to the NCA’s official assessment – to “a significant and long term impact on the capability of the organised crime group.”

The number of people crossing the channel in small boats has surpassed 50,000 since the Labour Party came to power last summer.

But, Ms Cooper will say the number of boats being used is actually dropping.

NCA-supported disruptions across Europe have also helped to squeeze supplies of boats and engines reaching the French coast. Two operations on the Bulgarian border at the end of July and mid-August led to the seizure of 45 dinghies.

Ms Cooper will say this contributed to August seeing the lowest number of boats crossing the Channel (55) since 2019, less than half the average of the past five years, new Home Office data shows. August has also seen the lowest number of people arriving by small boat since 2021, despite an identical number of crossing days as last year.

The 55 boats to cross the Channel this August is the lowest total for the month since 2019, when 34 boats crossed near the start of the small boats crisis.

Since then, there were 116 small boats in August 2020, 99 in 2021, 192 in 2022, 102 in 2023, and 75 in 2024, meaning that the number of successful boat crossings this August has been less than half the average of the previous five years (55 compared to 116.8 – 47 percent).

The shortage of boats has also contributed to unprecedented levels of overcrowding. Average boat occupancy this August was 64.8, the highest monthly average on record, compared to an average of 59 over the first seven months of the year.

The 3,567 arrivals in August 2025 compares to 4,149 last August, 5,369 in August 2023, and 8,631 in August 2022, which was the highest monthly total for arrivals on record.

This summer, the Home Office also announced a £100 million funding injection to strengthen existing law enforcement operations, support upstream capacity building, increase intelligence capabilities within the National Crime Agency, and purchase sophisticated new technology and equipment to strengthen UK border security. 

In a statement to Parliament today (1 September), the Home Secretary will give an update on the UK’s returns deal with France, under which the first deportations are due to take place in the coming weeks.

The Home Secretary will also set out further significant reforms to the asylum system, including further details following last month’s announcement of reforms to the appeals system to reduce delays and accelerate decisions, with a new independent body prioritising cases involving asylum accommodation and foreign national offenders within 24 weeks and a new fast track appeals process. She will say she intends to bring forward legislation to take forward appeals reform.

The Home Secretary will go further in setting out planned changes to refugee family reunion as indicated in the Immigration White Paper, to bring the UK’s approach more in line with other countries in Europe and relieve pressure on local authorities where homelessness applications linked to this route have risen in recent years. She will say reforms are intended to bring “greater fairness and balance” into the system.

Ms Cooper will say: "We inherited an asylum and immigration system in complete chaos and disarray. As part of the Plan for Change, our action to strengthen border security, increase returns and overhaul the broken asylum system are putting much stronger foundations in place so we can fix the chaos we inherited and end costly asylum hotels.

“That means ensuring we have the powers we need to pursue the criminal smuggling gangs profiting from small boat crossings that other parties have voted against, but also new firm rules in place to manage the asylum system so we can close hotels. These are complex challenges and they require sustainable and workable solutions, not fantasy promises which can’t be delivered.

“Britain has a proud record of giving sanctuary to those fleeing persecution, including in recent years from Ukraine and Hong Kong and we must do more to help students from Gaza. But the whole system needs to be properly controlled and managed, so the rules are respected and enforced, and so governments not criminal gangs decide who comes to the UK.”

Key areas the Home Secretary is expected to address include:

Border Security: Enhanced cooperation with France, specialist police units, increased coastal patrols, and progress on the £100 million security injection and Border Security Bill.

European Partnerships: Seizure of 600 boats and engines, 96 live operations, 190 arrests, 347 criminal group disruptions, and takedown of 23,000 smuggling-linked social media accounts.

Asylum Reform: Clearing the 106,000 case appeals backlog, establishing a new independent appeals body, and reducing accommodation costs.

Returns and Enforcement: Expanding detention capacity and removal operations, building on the 35,000 removals of individuals with no right to remain in the UK.

Humanitarian Routes: Updates on medical evacuations from Gaza and Palestinian students, and the Ukraine schemes.

The NCA has continued to make arrests of suspected people smugglers.

A man was arrested as part of an ongoing NCA investigation into migrant smuggling from the UK to France in lorries on August 28.

NCA officers apprehended the Iraqi man, aged 42, at an address in Ashford in the afternoon. He is also suspected of facilitating inbound facilitation of migrants to the UK.

The arrest follows activity at an industrial estate in the town, where NCA officers saw migrants near two men and a number of HGVs.

NCA Branch Commander Sara-Jayne Moore said: "This arrest is part of our ongoing investigation into a large-scale criminal network responsible for smuggling migrants from the UK to France, and in the other direction.

"People smugglers don't have any concern about the safety or wellbeing of human beings they transport, whether it is in boats or HGVs. They're driven solely by financial gain. The same crime groups smuggling people out of the country are often engaged in bringing people in too, so operations like this allow us to target their UK activities.

"People leaving the UK in lorries may be doing so because they are wanted by law enforcement, they may be trying to dodge French immigration checks, or they may be being trafficked or exploited.

"The risks to both the people being transported and to border security remains, regardless of the direction they are travelling in.

"This is one of 96 ongoing NCA investigations into gangs or individuals operating at the top tier of organised immigration crime, which remains a priority for the NCA."

The man was taken into custody where he will be questioned by NCA officers.

On the same morning Eritrean national Osman Sadiq Mohammed, who is wanted in Belgium over his suspected involvement in people smuggling activities was arrested by the NCA.

The 25-year-old was apprehended in Coventry by specialist officers from NCA’s National Extradition Unit after a warrant was issued for his arrest by the Belgian courts.

Belgian prosecutors allege he was involved in smuggling migrants from Belgium to the UK, at a price per person of 2,500 euros by sea and 1,500 euros by car.

The allegations also link to five occasions of Eritrean and Ethiopian migrants being intercepted at the port of Zeebrugge as they travelled to the UK. These incidents occurred between October 2021 and May 2024.

The man appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court the same day when the case was adjourned for extradition proceedings to begin.

If convicted in Belgium, he could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment.

NCA Regional Head of Investigations Jacque Beer said: “This action is another example of our collaboration with international partners to trace and detain alleged people smugglers and put them before the courts.

“The threat posed by organised immigration crime is chronic and enduring. Tackling the gangs organising Channel crossings and dismantling their operations is a top priority for the NCA”.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “I’d like to thank the NCA’s investigators for their continued dedication to protect our borders by working hand in hand with international partners to take down the unscrupulous criminal gangs who attempt to flout our laws.

“The individual in this case is suspected of trading cash for lives by facilitating dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK. We won’t stand by and watch this continue, which is exactly why we have invested £250m in the Border Security Command, driving an uplift of 400 NCA officers dedicated to taking down people smugglers.”