People Smuggling: Boats
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many dinghies used to smuggle people across the English Channel have been destroyed by the (a) Border Force and (b) French authorities in each of the last five years.
Answered by Alex Norris
a) Border Force do not hold the requested data in an accessible format pre-2022. Records held since 2022 confirm 3,724 boats in total have been destroyed.
Destruction activities are broken down across the following Calendar years:
2025 to date = 416
2024 = 679
2023 =1,173
2022 = 1,456
Total = 3,724
b) The number of dinghies/boats destroyed by French authorities is not held by the Home Office.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →