Britain’s new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been thrust into the deep end of the small boats crisis, with hundreds of migrants crossing the Channel on her first full day in office, as provisional figures suggest more than 30,000 have made the illegal journey so far this year.
The Birmingham Ladywood MP, who was appointed to the role on Thursday following Angela Rayner’s resignation and a major Cabinet reshuffle, immediately faced what officials described as a “Red” day in the Channel, with UK maritime assets braced for extremely busy operations. The surge follows ten straight days where no migrant boats made it to the UK because of bad weather, allowing people smugglers to push off multiple rafts from a huge area of coastline from Dunkirk down to Boulogne once winds eased.
From 7am onwards on Saturday, Border Force vessels and lifeboats responded to multiple migrant boats as they crossed into UK waters. The Border Force vessel Defender arrived into Dover harbour early morning with the first group of migrants, followed an hour later by the vessel Volunteer bringing another 85 migrants to the processing centre.
Record-Breaking Year for Crossings
The latest arrivals push the total number of illegal Channel arrivals this year to more than 30,000, according to provisional figures. This compares with approximately 22,000 at the same point last year, representing a significant increase that will pile pressure on the new Home Secretary. The 2025 figures are tracking to potentially exceed last year’s total of 36,816, making it one of the worst years since the crisis began in 2018.
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the new Home Secretary still faces significant challenges despite “important progress” made by her predecessor Yvette Cooper. The scale of the task facing Mahmood is sobering, with crossings for the year running approximately 36 per cent higher than at the same period in 2024.
Historic Appointment Amid Crisis
Mahmood, 43 years old, has become a controversial figure since she stated bluntly: “Islam, my own religion, like that of many practicing Muslims, my faith is the most important thing in my life. It is the absolute driving force behind everything I do.” Born in Birmingham in 1980 to Pakistani parents, Mahmood spent part of her childhood in Saudi Arabia before returning to the UK. She studied law at Lincoln College, Oxford, and worked as a barrister specialising in professional indemnity cases.
The appointment makes her the first Muslim woman to hold the position of Home Secretary, taking over from Yvette Cooper who presided over more than 52,000 migrant crossings in just 14 months. Lord Glasman told Politico that Mahmood’s appointment was “fantastic,” adding that “she’s now clearly the leader of our part of the party.”
Tough Stance on Immigration
Mahmood has signalled a hardline approach to immigration enforcement. As justice secretary she also proposed a change in the law for foreign criminals to be deported immediately when they receive a custodial sentence, at a time the Home Office has been working to increase the number of returns of migrants with no legal right to be in the UK.
Announcing this plan, she stated: “If you abuse our hospitality and break our laws, we will send you packing. Deportations are up under this government, and with this new law, they will happen earlier than ever before.” Her appointment has been seen as a shift towards the socially conservative “Blue Labour” wing of the party, with its emphasis on law-and-order policies.
European Convention Reforms
Earlier this summer, Ms Mahmood also said the European Convention on Human Rights must be reformed to win back public confidence across the continent. On Tuesday, she further told the Lords Constitution Committee that it is “perfectly fine” for ministers to question the UK’s interpretation of upholding the treaty, adding that European colleagues view the UK as being more on the “maximalist end of the spectrum”.
The former barrister will now be in charge of proposals to tighten the use of Article 8, the right to family and private life, of the ECHR in immigration cases, which are expected to be brought this autumn. This represents a significant shift in approach that could have major implications for how asylum claims are processed.
Financial Impact of Crisis
In January 2025, speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Davies of Gower said, “According to the Home Office figures, housing asylum seekers in hotels costs taxpayers over £8 million a day (nearly £3bn a year). In 2023, the think tank Policy Exchange released a report detailing the public cost of the crisis, estimating that the annual cost of the small boats crisis was “in the region of £3.5bn”.
The financial burden continues to grow as numbers increase, with accommodation costs representing just one element of the overall expense to taxpayers. The pressure on local services, processing centres, and the asylum system adds billions more to the annual bill.
Failed Returns Deal
It is now a month since the Government signed a deal with France to allow for the partial return of some small boat migrants. Around 100 migrants have been arrested and earmarked for return to France, but ministers have said it will be another few weeks before any returns take place. In the meantime, more than 4,500 migrants have made the illegal crossing since the deal came into force, highlighting the ineffectiveness of current measures.
The “one in, one out” arrangement negotiated with President Macron has been widely criticised as insufficient to tackle the scale of the crisis. Shadow ministers have pointed out that at current rates, it would take a decade to return just this year’s arrivals under the scheme.
Growing Death Toll
In 2024, there were 73 confirmed deaths related to such crossings, a record number, and five times more than the year before. A total of 152 people died in the Channel between 2018 and June 2025. The increasingly dangerous nature of crossings has been attributed to overcrowding, with boats now carrying an average of 53 people compared to 13 in 2020.
The weekend’s surge came after conditions in the Channel finally improved following days of rough weather. People smugglers had been waiting for the opportunity to launch boats from beaches along the French coast, with thousands of migrants reportedly massing in camps around Dunkirk and Calais.
Government Response
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice. That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.
Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.
What Happens Next
Mahmood faces immediate pressure to demonstrate results where her predecessor failed. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill continues through Parliament, promising counter-terror style powers to police and new criminal offences to crack down on people-smuggling gangs. However, critics argue that without a credible deterrent and effective returns agreements, the boats will keep coming.
The new Home Secretary must also navigate the political sensitivities around her appointment. Reacting to Ms Mahmood’s appointment, Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said the new Home Secretary still faces significant challenges despite “important progress” made by her predecessor Yvette Cooper. With crossings showing no sign of slowing and public patience wearing thin, Mahmood’s handling of the crisis in her first weeks will be crucial in determining whether she can succeed where others have failed.
As weather conditions remain favourable for crossings, Border Force and French authorities are preparing for continued high levels of activity in the coming days. The challenge for Britain’s first Muslim Home Secretary is clear: deliver on the government’s promise to “smash the gangs” whilst managing a humanitarian crisis that shows no sign of abating.
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Image Credit:
Shabana Mahmood MP (2020, cropped) — photo by Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0
