More than 1,100 people, including survivors of torture and human trafficking, have been convicted of the crime of illegally arriving in the UK since 2022. The data comes from freedom of information requests — a process that lets the public ask government bodies for information they hold — submitted to the Home Office by Dr Victoria Taylor, a researcher at the University of Manchester. The figures show that 1,109 people were prosecuted for illegal arrival between July 2022 and January 2026 The Guardian.

In 2022, the Home Office created a new offence called "illegal arrival" to discourage people from coming to the UK by small boat or by hiding in lorries. This is different from another crime called "facilitation," which means helping someone enter a country illegally, usually for money. Crown Prosecution Service guidance covers both offences Crown Prosecution Service. The Illegal Migration Act 2023 went further, stating that people who arrive in the UK illegally will be detained and removed rather than allowed to stay, according to the government's factsheet for the bill UK Government.

Of those prosecuted for illegal arrival, 628 arrived on a small boat. Of those, 296 were caught on drone footage steering a dinghy. Only 12 people have been convicted of facilitation — the crime of organising the crossings — after steering the boats they arrived on The Guardian.

In one case, the Home Office settled a legal challenge brought by a trafficking survivor from South Sudan who had been forced at gunpoint to steer a small boat. The department agreed to improve protections for trafficking victims in similar situations. At least 30 children whose ages were disputed were also among those convicted. Nineteen of those children spent time in adult prisons The Guardian.

The broader context here is years of high numbers of people arriving in the UK without permission. UK authorities recorded around 264,000 unauthorised arrivals between 2018 and 2025, with 73 per cent arriving across the English Channel The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. In 2023, 29,437 migrants arrived in small boats, about 36 per cent fewer than the year before, according to government figures Reuters. In April 2023, the UK government said it would take steps to limit courts' power to block deportations of illegal migrants Reuters. Meanwhile, a BBC investigation found that people smugglers are using UK-registered businesses to collect payments for illegal Channel crossings BBC.

The picture that emerges is one of tension between two goals: deterring illegal migration and protecting vulnerable people. Over a thousand people have been prosecuted simply for arriving, while only 12 have been convicted of organising the crossings. That gap raises questions about whether the law is catching the people who profit from smuggling — or mostly those being smuggled.

The presence of trafficking survivors and children among those convicted adds to the concern. The South Sudanese case shows that some people forced to steer boats under threat of violence have been treated as criminals rather than victims. The fact that at least 30 age-disputed children entered the criminal justice system, and that 19 were placed in adult prisons, raises questions about how authorities determine someone's age and whether children are being adequately protected.

Looking ahead, the data gathered by Dr Taylor gives policymakers and researchers a baseline to measure how the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and related enforcement measures are working. The gap between the number of people arriving, the number prosecuted for arriving, and the number convicted of organising crossings will likely shape future debates about whether the UK's approach is effective and whether it is causing unintended harm.